Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Breast cancer stamps are sufficient

Question: Regarding the breast cancer postage stamps: Do we need to add a 2-cent stamp to it in order to mail something first class? I was told I had to from the mailman, the clerk at the post office and from the stamp people in Washington, D.C.

Answer: No, you don't have to pay more to use the Breast Cancer Research "semipostal stamp," said Lynne Moore, manager of consumer affairs for the U.S. Postal Service in Honolulu.

She pointed to the Jan. 5 "Postal Bulletin," which announced that the price of semipostal stamps would remain unchanged when the first-class mail rate increased to 39 cents from 37 cents on Jan. 8.

The Postal Service currently sells two 45-cent semipostal stamps -- for Breast Cancer Research and for Stop Family Violence.

By law, revenues from sales of semipostal stamps -- minus the costs of mailing -- are given to specified agencies. That now means 6 cents each per stamp instead of 8 cents each, because of the rate increase.

That's acceptable, according to the Postal Bulletin, because "The 45-cent semipostal rate meets the pricing formula mandated by federal law, which sets a minimum differential of 15 percent. The differential is defined as the difference between the first-class single-piece letter rate and the actual price of the semipostal stamp."

Moore said you'd have to pay more only if the first-class letter you're mailing weighs more than one ounce, if it's subject to a "nonmachinable surcharge" or if you want "extra services."

The Breast Cancer Research stamp was issued on July 29, 1998, and was the first semipostal stamp issued in the United States.

As of Dec. 31, the Postal Service said, 678 million Breast Cancer Research stamps had been sold, with nearly $48 million aiding breast cancer research.

Seventy percent of proceeds go to the National Institutes of Health, and 30 percent to the Department of Defense's Medical Research Program.

Proceeds from the Stop Family Violence stamp, issued on Oct. 8, 2003, go to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for domestic violence programs.

As of Dec. 31, 34 million of those stamps were sold, netting $2.3 million for the department.

Q: Several politicians have announced plans to run for the 2nd District congressional seat. At least two do not live in the district. Do they need to move into the area prior to the primary election?

A: There is no requirement that a candidate actually live in the district. The winner of any congressional seat merely has to live in the state "when elected."

The State Elections Office referred us to the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, on this subject:

"No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age of 25 years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen."