WASHINGTON, DC – The National Lifeline Association (NaLA) applauds the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) action today to open a rulemaking to update the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline low-income sustainable connectivity support program. NaLA supports today’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking’s (NPRM) focus on curbing waste, fraud and abuse through benefit transfer controls, enrollment representative safeguards, and usage requirements on all Lifeline plans. NaLA also backs the NPRM’s proposals to ensure that Lifeline benefits are limited to low-income households that are legally entitled to them, including measures to increase screening to avoid duplicates, enable full social security number collection when necessary, require standardized informed consent for enrollments and transfers, and eliminate state opt-outs from the National Lifeline Accountability Database and the National Verifier. Common sense measures to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse will help to ensure that the Lifeline program can provide support necessary to make essential connectivity available to those low-income households that cannot afford it.

For many years, NaLA has engaged stakeholders throughout the federal government in support of many of the program integrity reforms the FCC seek s comment on through today’s action. Our industry association strives for leadership in preventing waste, fraud and abuse and our members take good stewardship of the Lifeline program seriously. As a leading participant in this rulemaking proceeding, NaLA will propose and support practical solutions that address identified challenges and areas for improvement without imposing unnecessary and overly prescriptive requirements on Lifeline-eligible households or the providers willing to serve them.  We welcome this NPRM and look forward to working with the FCC and all stakeholders on the adoption of common sense reforms to the Lifeline program.