Speeches & Testimony

I rise today to reintroduce the Affordable Shipping for All Act, a bill to end discriminatory and exclusionary shipping practices faced by residents and businesses in the non-contiguous areas of our country, particularly Hawai‘i, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

This blatant discrimination and exclusion is illustrated by Hawai‘i, my home state. We are over 2,500 miles from the West Coast and depend on shipping to bring in more than 90% of the products we need. Like our other non-contiguous family, we do not have the same manufacture, transport and delivery options as does the contiguous continental U.S.

Rather than treating us equally, residents and businesses of the non-contiguous U.S. face four persistent and unfair shipping practices that drive up costs and make life harder for millions of Americans.

First, as confirmed by the Federal Trade Commission, many online retailers outright refuse to ship basic products our parts of the United States, effectively treating our areas as if we are foreign countries. This exclusion prevents millions of Americans from even accessing essential goods.

Second, even when retailers do offer shipping to the non-contiguous areas, they frequently deny customers free shipping options, even though such options are readily available for customers in the contiguous U.S. This is true even when the actual cost of shipping from the continental U.S. to a non-contiguous area is higher than to another location in the continental U.S. This leaves residents in these areas at a distinct disadvantage when trying to purchase products online.

Third, when private shipping services are made available, the prices are often inflated and bear no reasonable relation to the actual distance. For example, the cost to ship a 2-pound package from Los Angeles to Hawai‘i can exceed $45, while the same package from Los Angeles to New York City, the same distance, costs only $14. This price disparity is both unreasonable and unjust.

Fourth, the United States Postal Service (USPS) also treats the non-contiguous areas unfairly. It recently created a new Zone 10 for shipments to Hawai‘i, Alaska and other non-contiguous areas, which will increase shipping rates for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage packages to and from those locations by 5%. The introduction of Zone 10 fundamentally discriminates against the non-contiguous parts of our country, which runs directly counter to the foundational USPS charge to provide equal access to the U.S. mail.

The Fair Shipping Access for All Act will ensure that no shipping company, including the USPS, can impose discriminatory rates or exclude non-contiguous areas from receiving shipments. It will also require that shipping rates for non-contiguous areas reflect the actual cost of service, rather than arbitrary price increases.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. It’s about fairness, equity and ensuring that all Americans, regardless of where they live, have equal access to affordable shipping options. Mahalo.