FCC: Web access to help those ‘struggling to make ends meet’
(US News) – The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted 3 to 2 along party lines to expand the Lifeline phone subsidy to cover Internet access for low-income Americans, after a last minute decision broke a bipartisan compromise aimed at blocking wasteful welfare spending.
The reform allows people who use welfare programs – including food stamps or Medicaid – the option to use the $9.25 per month subsidy provided by Lifeline to pay for stand-alone broadband instead of phone service. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said during the commission meeting that adding this option to the program assists some of the 64 million Americans who have difficulty affording Internet access at home.
Wheeler acknowledged past abuse of the Lifeline program, and insisted that both administrative costs and opportunities for fraud would be lowered thanks to a new National Eligibility Verifier.
“This brings fiscal integrity to a program that has never had a budget,” Wheeler said.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said giving welfare recipients the chance to choose between either a subsidy for phone service or Internet access will help people who “are struggling to make ends meet.”
“They should be able to take advantage of a reform program that could be the bridge for them to increase their opportunities,” she said.
The FCC delayed the meeting for four hours, which Clyburn said was due to last-minute attempts by her office to find a compromise with the two Republican commissioners, who were skeptical about expanding Lifeline and proposed changes to cap the program’s spending. Clyburn opposed a cap but said she negotiated until the last minute before deciding not to support a “budget mechanism” suggested by Republicans that would have placed limits on Lifeline’s spending.
Pai said that as of Thursday morning Clyburn was committed to a $1.75 billion budget cap for the program aimed at ending wasteful enhanced subsidies, and the commission was ready for “a bipartisan path to a 5-0 vote on Lifeline.”
The Republican commissioners dissented, however, because Commissioner Ajit Pai said that Wheeler pressured Clyburn to back out of her agreement.
“This was a strong bipartisan agreement that would have delivered broadband Internet to millions of low-income Americans,” he said. “The commission’s failure to clean up waste, fraud and abuse places the entire program in jeopardy.”
Wheeler praised the efforts by Clyburn and the Republican commissioners to negotiate, adding “sometimes the deliberative process doesn’t lead consensus in the end but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.”
Clyburn said the expansion of Lifeline will have “more oversight and protections against waste fraud and abuse” than other FCC programs using universal service funds, she said, noting that “I have heard loud and clear from our state partners” who criticized the proposal.
The National Governor’s Association urged the agency to reject the proposal because it “would centralize oversight within the FCC, which has the potential to allow eligible telecommunications carriers to circumvent state scrutiny.”
This expansion is part of the Obama administration’s goal of bridging the “digital divide” that makes it difficult for low-income Americans to afford Internet subscriptions, which in turn makes it harder for parents to apply for jobs, educate their kids or work from home. More than 95 percent of households with incomes over $150,000 have broadband, while 48 percent of people making less than $25,000 have an Internet connection at home, according to the FCC.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-31/fcc-expands-obamaphone-program-to-include-internet
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