Boucher Forging Ahead on Universal Service

On March 10, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said he hopes to mark up his draft universal service legislation this month.

Chairman Boucher and Rep Lee Terry (R-NE) released a draft of their bill in November that would expand the base of corporate contributors to the federal fund, cap its size and widen its mission to encompass broadband. Chairman Boucher said Wednesday that he has spent many hours "trying to finalize it," but couldn't say when he would have a final draft. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to include in the National Broadband Plan recommendations to transition the Universal Service Fund, which now subsidizes mostly traditional phone costs in low-income and rural areas, to support broadband deployment and adoption. Boucher says his plan and the FCC's have the same goal, but they differ on some details.