Republican Proposal Would Eliminate Lifeline Cell Service for Poor

[cdmagurus.com]

A new bill proposed by Rep. Austin Scott in Georgia aims to take free cell phones and service away from low-income Americans. The End Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act (H.R. 3546) would eliminate the Lifeline Program's subsidy for mobile service, allowing it to be used for landlines only. "Hardworking American taxpayers are already overburdened and should not be forced to pay for a program that has vastly expanded beyond its intended scope and is riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Rep. Scott. The program originated under President Ronald Reagin in 1985 and aimed to help provide basic landline services to those who couldn't afford it. The program was expanded to cellular service under President George W. Bush in 2005, and again under President Barack Obama to provide free basic phones. It is funded by the Universal Service Fund, a surcharge that appears on most phone bills. “My bill will ... prohibit Universal Service support for mobile services. In order to promote government accountability, cut government fraud and waste, and protect consumers from further increases to their phone bills, the Lifeline Program’s free cell phone plans should end." The program has been rife with fraud in recent years, with many ineligible consumers taking advantage of the service. A study published in June by the U.S. Government Accountability Office suggests $1.2 million in cell phone subsidies went to fake or deceased people. Further, the GAO could not verify that 36% of the program's subscribers were indeed eligible for Lifeline services. Scott has prosed similar legislation before. The National Consumer Law Center said of an earlier version of Scott's proposal, "The bill would undercut an essential anti-poverty program that connects families to emergency services, children to educational opportunities, and parents to jobs."


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