Chairman Pai, don’t cut off the Lifeline to your home state

A new proposal spearheaded by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai aims to eliminate the ability of certain carriers to provide Lifeline services, disproportionately affecting rural areas. Kansas would be hit hard by the harsh new Lifeline rules. It is estimated that about 70 percent of the state’s 45,131 Lifeline households would lose service, including veterans and seniors. While Chairman Pai has been on media tours in recent months touting how the FCC is closing the “digital divide,” the truth is that his Lifeline plan would make things much worse for low-income Kansas households.

Chairman Pai justifies his Lifeline curbs by arguing they are needed to deal with “waste, fraud and abuse” and to rein in “unscrupulous actors.” But what we would like to know is this: Have there been any problems with Lifeline in Kansas? Our message to the FCC chairman is simple: If there’s a problem with the Lifeline program in Kansas, let’s fix it. But if, as we suspect, Lifeline abuses are not present in Kansas and the program is a true lifeline for millions of Americans, let’s not declare war on Kansas veterans and seniors by cutting off their cell phones and broadband service. As a son of Kansas, Pai is in a position to do a lot of good for his adopted home state. If not, let’s hope he at least chooses to do no harm.

[Barbara Lach is vice president of the board of Connecting For Good, a Kansas City-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to provide computer skills and internet access to low-income communities.]