Velazquez Circulating Draft Letter Urging Pai Against Cutting Lifeline Funds, Citing Puerto Rico Hurricane Recovery
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., is collecting lawmakers’ signatures for a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that will cite the importance of the Lifeline USF program in Puerto Rico as it recovers from hurricanes Irma and Maria as a reason…
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not to cut the Lifeline budget as part of his revamp plan for the program. Pai proposed providing $954 million in high-cost USF support to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands restore and upgrade their communications networks, which were damaged in the 2017 hurricanes (see 1803060039). Pai’s current Lifeline revamp proposal, meanwhile, would mean an estimated “75 percent of existing Lifeline customers in Puerto Rico would lose their telecommunications carrier,” Velázquez said in a draft letter circulating among lawmakers. “After many communities endured widespread lack of communications” after Hurricane Maria, “they should not be forced to endure additional hardship.” Velázquez got support from more than three dozen House Democrats and Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one Hill aide said. Velázquez’s office didn’t comment.