Court Orders Texas USF Payments to AMA During Appeal
A state court required the Texas Public Utility Commission to pay AMA TechTel Communications the full amount of state USF supports it was owed since Dec. 1. In a Thursday order in case 03-021-00597-CV, 3rd District Texas Court of Appeals…
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in Austin judges decided 2-1 to lift a suspension of a lower court order requiring the payments. The appeals court had frozen the requirement with the appeal pending (see 2112150042). AMA filed a motion May 26 saying that, without the funding, it would go out of business before the appeal could be resolved. “AMA has demonstrated that irreparable harm has occurred and continues to occur,” said the appeals court: Reinstating the lower court’s temporary injunction will “preserve the parties’ rights until the disposition of this appeal.” Justices Thomas Baker and Gisela Triana supported the decision; Justice Melissa Goodwin dissented. The AMA case is one of two court challenges involving the PUC’s 2020 decision not to raise the surcharge on consumer bills to fully fund USF. The Texas PUC is "reviewing the court’s order," a spokesperson said.