Sen Wicker Sets Hearing on FCC Lifeline Program

In the wake of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) has scheduled a June 2 hearing. Lifeline is a Universal Service Fund subsidy to provide basic communications service to low-income and hard to reach Americans. The FCC is migrating the fund from support of telephone service to broadband. Chairman Wickers's office said the hearing would look at the efficiency and effectiveness of the program -- the GAO advised it to evaluate those performance goals -- and at preventing waste, fraud and abuse. Scheduled to testify are Randy May, Free State Foundation; Michael Clements, GAO; Scott Bergmann, CTIA - The Wireless Association; Commissioner Ronald A. Brisé, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC); and Jessica Gonzalez, National Hispanic Media Coalition.