Congressional USF Working Group Asks for Reform Ideas

Usually, it is the FCC accepting public comments on a proposed rule through an online portal. This time, it’s the Congress. The Universal Service Working Group, a bipartisan gathering of senators and house members reinstituted itself earlier this year to develop legislation to reform an FCC universal service fund (USF) program that is in great need of reform. The program’s current problems seem to need congressional solutions.

Working Group member Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) is hosting a comment portal on her website and inviting ideas on how to save the program. The group particularly seeks comment on how to fund the program following the Supreme Court’s recent affirmation that the current USF contribution system is constitutional. The group set a comment deadline of midnight, Sept. 15.

Among the specific questions the working group asks:

• How should Congress evaluate the effectiveness of the various universal service programs, which include Schools and Libraries (E-Rate), Rural Health Care, Lifeline and High-Cost Funds? Has each program fulfilled the purposes for their creation in Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
• What reforms are necessary for the contribution system to preserve the program?
• Is the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the FCC’s USF administrator, also in need of reform?
• Does the FCC currently have the legal authority to make any necessary changes?

“I’m committed to working toward a long-term solution for the Universal Service Fund and the communications services it supports. With our comment portal now open, I look forward to reviewing feedback with the goal of closing the digital divide for unserved and underserved communities across America,” Fischer said in a statement.

“In the weeks that have followed the Supreme Court’s confirmation of constitutionality of the USF contribution mechanism we have all felt joy and relief, but we also realize there’s now the need to get back to work on sustaining universal service for decades to come,” said Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association in a recent blog post.

In the blog post and an accompanying video, Bloomfield urged NTCA members to visit legislators in their district offices during Congress’s August recess.  “Now is the perfect time to get ahead of these many debates with your members of Congress,” she said. “I would like to ask you to make a special effort to focus your conversations on the importance of sustaining universal service in rural America.”

USTelecom last week released a one-page issue brief, “Securing the Future of Universal Service,” with updated statistics and other information following the Supreme Court’s decision. “Without a sustained and future-proof USF, the connectivity for thousands of rural broadband customers would be at risk,” USTelecom says.