Restricting Lifeline program funding won't make it more efficient

[Commentary] If you’ve watched certain YouTube videos or heard statements from a number of Republican members during last week’s House hearing, you might think the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program is enabling rampant abuse of taxpayer funds by the poor to collect stockpiles of free cell phones. It would be wrong thinking, as the most egregious abusers of the program have been opportunistic private companies, not the vast majority of low-income households that rely on the program for discounted basic phone service.

The Federal Communications Commission’s reforms to the Lifeline program aren’t perfect, and implementation of the various components is ongoing. However, efforts to restrict Lifeline’s funding won’t improve the program’s efficiency. Rather, it will reduce the program’s ability to serve the nation’s most vulnerable at a time when the number of families and veterans falling into poverty are increasing. Congress should vigilantly monitor the progress of the FCC’s reforms, but it should not unnecessarily place such a critical program in the cross fire of the budget debate or use it to launch partisan attacks against the current Administration.

[Morris is the policy counsel for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute; Lennett is the policy director there.]