CBO Scores H.R. 4275, Ensuring Phone and Internet Access Through Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Program Act of 2022

The Ensuring Phone and Internet Access Through Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Program Act (H.R. 4275) would require the Federal Communications Commission to report to Congress annually on enrollment in its Lifeline program and its Affordable Connectivity Program, disaggregated by how applicants qualify for support. For example, Lifeline applicants may qualify based on prior enrollment in Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the Supplemental Security Income program. Affordable Connectivity Program qualifications are similar. In addition, the bill would require the Government Accountability Office, within one year of enactment, to report on efforts to promote participation and enrollment in both programs. CBO estimates the report would cost less than $500,000; any additional spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The FCC, through the Universal Service Administrative Company, already collects this information and publishes it online. CBO estimates that any additional costs to report to the Congress would not be significant. Moreover, because the FCC is authorized to collect fees each year sufficient to offset the appropriated costs of its regulatory activities, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. If the FCC increased fees to offset the costs associated with implementing the act, H.R. 4275 would increase the cost of an existing mandate on private entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of that mandate would be small and fall below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) ($184 million in 2022, adjusted annually for inflation).