Senate Democrats Urge FCC to Do More to 'Open' Lifeline During Pandemic

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut led a Thursday push with 23 other Democrats for the FCC to “take immediate steps to open” Lifeline program “assistance to more households, and ensure that its services meet the pressing needs of families during” the COVID-19 pandemic. House Commerce Committee Democrats also pressed for Lifeline improvements (see 2008130053). “We are alarmed that as students head back to class … there is still no national plan from the FCC to secure families’ access to their educational future,” Blumenthal and the other senators said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The FCC under Pai “actively worked to undermine and destabilize the Lifeline program, which has left more families vulnerable during the pandemic.” A draft order Pai circulated last month would reduce a Dec. 1 increase of Lifeline’s minimum service standard for mobile broadband (see 2007300064). “We appreciate that the FCC issued and extended the temporary waivers in response to the pandemic to pause usage and subscriber documentation requirements,” but “by the benchmark established during previous crises, such as Hurricane Katrina, the FCC response falls far short,” the senators said. They urged the FCC to extend all current Lifeline waivers until at least August 2021 and “provide additional financial support to Lifeline providers” to support recipients’ access to unlimited mobile data and voice minutes during the pandemic. Other signers included Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz of Hawaii. Pai “for months has made clear that Congress needs to step up to the plate and make more funding available for connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a spokesperson emailed. “It’s therefore disappointing that Senate Democrats have failed to do their job and are refusing to find common ground with the Administration and Senate Republicans on broadband funding and other core national priorities unless they get their demand for special-interest giveaways that have nothing to do with the pandemic.” Some lawmakers and advocates believe Capitol Hill’s inability to agree on an additional COVID-19 aid bill that includes broadband funding presents an opening for the issue to become a focus during the presidential and congressional campaigns this fall (see 2008210001).