'Stealth' FCC Phone Tax Hike to Hit Worst-Off
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:20 am
DATA TO SHOW SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER PHONE TAXES, RATE HIKES HITTING MOST VULNERABLE U.S. CONSUMERS UNDER FCC CHAIR’S “REFORM” PLAN
In Ironic Twist for Universal Service Fund, Those Least Able to Pay Would Be Socked With Significant Tax/Rate Jumps; Coalition to Present First Public Estimate of How Much Vulnerable Consumers Would be Clobbered by Martin Plan.
In Ironic Twist for Universal Service Fund, Those Least Able to Pay Would Be Socked With Significant Tax/Rate Jumps; Coalition to Present First Public Estimate of How Much Vulnerable Consumers Would be Clobbered by Martin Plan.
WASHINGTON, D.C.//November 17, 2005 News Advisory///Millions of elderly, rural, low-income, and other vulnerable consumers would be saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars each year in higher federal Universal Service Fund (USF) phone taxes (or forced telephone rate hikes) under a controversial plan that is being promoted by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin, according to new data to be released on November 17, 2005 by the nonprofit Keep USF Fair Coalition.
News event speakers will include:
* Linda Sherry, Director, National Priorities, Consumer Action;
* Mary M. Martin, Chairman, Board of Directors, The Seniors Coalition; and
* A disabled nurse from Lookout, West Virginia who is a low-volume long-distance phone user living on a fixed income.
The Coalition will present the first public estimate of the number of vulnerable consumers who are at risk under the Martin plan, as well as the hundreds of millions of extra dollars they would be forced to pay either directly in higher taxes or indirectly via hiked phone rates.
TO ATTEND: 10 a.m. ET, November 17, 2005, Holmes Room, Willard Hotel (immediately across the street from the National Press Building), Washington, D.C.
CAN’T ATTEND?: Listen in on a live, one-way phone feed by dialing 1-(800) 860-2442 by 10 a.m. ET on November 17, 2005. Ask for the "universal service fund" news event. A streaming audio replay of the phone-based news event will be available on the Web as of 6 p.m. ET on November 17, 2005 at http://www.keepusffair.org
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron, for Keep USF Fair Coalition, (703) 276-3265 or [email protected]
Formed in April 2004, the Keep USF Fair Coalition (http://www.keepusffair.org) is committed to keeping the Universal Service Fund collection method fair, and opposing proposals to move to a regressive, per-line flat fee. Now counting more than 108,000 members in its ranks, The Keep USF Fair Coalition was formed in April 2004. Current members include Alliance for Public Technology, Alliance For Retired Americans, American Association Of People With Disabilities, American Corn Growers Association, American Council of the Blind, Black Leadership Forum, Consumer Action, Deafness Research Foundation, Gray Panthers, Latino Issues Forum, League Of United Latin American Citizens, Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, National Association Of The Deaf, National Grange, National Hispanic Council on Aging, National Native American Chamber of Commerce, The Seniors Coalition, Virginia Citizen’s Consumer Council and World Institute On Disability. The NAACP is a supporter of the Keep USF Fair Coalition, and is among the many national organizations that have filed comments with the FCC in support of a non-regressive USF collection method. Keep USF Fair also has received support through a resolution passed in 2005 by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA).