States urge Supreme Court to save affordable internet access program
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States are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to save a program designed to make telephone service and internet access affordable for low-income, rural and tribal residents.
This story was originally published by Maine Morning Star.
Maine joined 21 other states in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to save a program designed to make telephone service and internet access affordable for low-income, rural and tribal residents.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Public Advocate William Harwood signed an amicus brief filed Thursday that asks the nation’s highest court to reverse a lower court judgement that found the Universal Service Fund unconstitutional.
The fund in question was established through the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and has since provided significant financial support for Mainers, according to a news release from the Maine Office of the Public Advocate.
“The loss of this federal funding, which has been in place for nearly 30 years, would be a devastating blow to the availability and affordability of the telecommunications services needed by low-income Mainers,” said Andrew Landry, deputy public advocate for Maine.
As of December, more than 13,000 Mainers received discounted phone and/or internet service through this program. In total, more than $120 million has been dispersed since 2004 to help residents get phones and phone and internet services.
Maine health care providers, schools and libraries have received a combined total of more than $32.2 million to provide broadband and internet connections to rural patients and about 950 schools and libraries statewide.
Under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission, the fund is administered by the independent nonprofit Universal Service Administrative Company. The nonprofit collects fees from telecommunications providers — wireline, wireless and satellite companies — to create the “fund.” Then, companies who provide discounted phone and internet services can apply for reimbursements from that fund to cover the discounts.
However, last July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit narrowly decided that the Universal Service Fee is unconstitutional because through it Congress delegated its exclusive taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission and the Universal Service Administrative Company.
Last fall, the FCC successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse the judgement. Numerous parties have filed briefs in the case. Maine is joined in its brief by Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com.