A bill to require a quarterly report by the Federal Communications Commission on the Lifeline program funded by the Universal Service Fund.

Bill: 114-s-1545
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2015-06-10
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Poverty and welfare assistance

Telecommunication rates and fees

Telephone and wireless communication
Latest action: action_date: 2015-06-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-06-10
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>Requires the Federal Communications Commission to submit a quarterly report to Congress&nbsp;regarding the Lifeline program, which provides discounts on telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers. Requires the reports to include: (1) aggregate expenditures on the program; (2) a list of each payment made to a participating telecommunications&nbsp;carrier for the provision of service through the program, including, in the case of a participating carrier that is reimbursed for the provision of service to both wireless and wireline subscribers, the amount of the payment that corresponds to each type of service; and (3) the average cost per subscriber, across all the participating carriers, to provide the service that the program subsidizes, broken down by wireless and wireline subscribers and averaged per subscriber.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1545 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 10, 2015 Mr. Vitter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require a quarterly report by the Federal Communications Commission on the Lifeline program funded by the Universal Service Fund.

1. Report on Lifeline program (a) Definition In this section— (1) the term Lifeline program means the Lifeline program of the Federal Communications Commission set forth under subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto; and (2) the term participating carrier means an eligible telecommunications carrier that receives universal service support under sections 214(e) and 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 214(e) and 254) for the provision of service through the Lifeline program. (b) Report required Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Federal Communications Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the Lifeline program that includes, with respect to the period covered by the report— (1) aggregate expenditures on the Lifeline program; (2) a list of each payment made to a participating carrier for the provision of service through the Lifeline program, including, in the case of a participating carrier that is reimbursed for the provision of service to both wireless and wireline subscribers, the amount of the payment that corresponds to each type of service; and (3) the average cost per subscriber, across all the participating carriers, to provide the service that the Lifeline program subsidizes, broken down by wireless and wireline subscribers and averaged per subscriber.