Nebraska PSC Commissioner Crystal Rhoades: Only 3 Percent of Eligible State Residents receiving Lifeline Aid is an Outrage

/Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) Commissioner Crystal Rhoades commented on the Promoting Access to Broadband Act introduced by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18) to increase wireless and broadband access to the federal Lifeline program for low-income urban and rural Americans.

“Nationwide, only 18 percent of those eligible for Lifeline broadband and wireless assistance are getting the help Congress intended that they receive. In Nebraska, the estimated rate of service is appallingly low at 3 percent. In this era of Covid, where the ability to communicate with medical professionals, emergency responders, educators, and loved ones is so critical, it is an outrage that Lifeline has been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair. Sen. Durbin and Rep. Maloney are to be complimented for working to breathe urgently needed new life and resources into the Lifeline program. It is vital infrastructure in terms of moving our nation forward out of the Covid economic quagmire. For the elderly and sick in low-income homes, this is literally a life and death matter. For children in lowincome homes who must access school entirely or in part on a remote basis, this is literally about the future they will have, and whether they will be left behind.”

The bicameral bill is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ed Markey (DMA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).