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Wisconsin seeks review of federal order concerning broadband discounts

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//June 30, 2016//

Wisconsin seeks review of federal order concerning broadband discounts

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//June 30, 2016//

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Wisconsin is leading a coalition of states in fighting a federal order they argue infringes on their ability to decide which companies can take part in a program that provides discounts to low-income users of broadband and other communications services.

Wisconsin filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday seeking review of the federal government’s Lifeline Reform Order. That order, according to Wisconsin officials, infringes on states’ ability to decide which companies can participate in the Lifeline program, which recently began providing discounts on broadband service.

Instead of the states, the Federal Communications Commission will have the primary authority to pick participating companies, according to an official statement from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel argued that Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission and similar state agencies are better positioned to oversee such matters.

“The State commissions — including our own Public Service Commission of Wisconsin — have by far the best record of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Lifeline program,” Schimel said in the statement. “The Order takes the best cops off the beat. That can only harm Lifeline customers.”

Wisconsin’s petition has been signed by 11 states or state commissions. They are: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and the Vermont Public Service Board.

The states are arguing that the federal order concerning the Lifeline program violates both the Communications Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

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