WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee passed legislation to distribute universal-service subsidies more uniformly, but the legislation is not expected to become law.
“There are 18 of you on this committee that have customers that pay in and receive nothing,” said Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), the sponsor of the Rural Universal Service Equity Act of 2003. “This is the most egregious distribution formula that I have seen in my public life.”
Qwest Communications Inc., which provides wireline service to Oregon and several other Western states, has been pushing the bill. Based on the formula designed by the Federal Communications Commission, Qwest is not permitted to take out as much as it believes it should. Wireless carriers receive subsidies for serving customers based on the incumbent’s amount.
Even though the bill passed, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said it was not going to advance.
“In all reality, we will know this will not get this through the process,” said Lott, calling the Senate Commerce Committee’s action a “show vote.”
Mississippi is one of the states that benefits from the current funding system.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.V.) said sometimes systems are not fair. “Some states do better than others, but that is life,” he said.
Many members of the Senate Commerce Committee said that instead of considering the Smith bill, the committee should reform the entire universal-service subsidy system.
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, said that he and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) had been conducting universal-service summits with industry representatives, but hat time ran out to write a full reform bill.
Smith agreed that in a perfect world, his bill would be included in a comprehensive bill, but because comprehensive reform was not moving, he wanted his bill to advance.
