WASHINGTON-A large coalition of government, public interest and telecom industry groups sent a letter to Capitol Hill urging the Senate Commerce Committee to pass a bill that would permanently exempt the universal-service fund from the Anti-Deficiency Act. More than 30 organizations, including Alcatel, Western Wireless Corp. and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, signed the letter.
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on a bill that would permanently exempt the E-rate program from the ADA. Payments to the much-derided E-rate program were suspended last year when the program could not follow generally accepted accounting principles. Congress intervened temporarily so payments could continue.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has co-sponsored a bill to permanently exempt the E-rate. At the April 11 hearing, Stevens rejected a proposal by the Government Accountability Office that Congress exempt the USF from the ADA for only two years. Stevens said that two years would not be sufficient, and he would rather suspend the application of the ADA until a legislative fix can be found.
Further action on the bill to exempt the USF from the ADA hasn’t been set.
