California PUC Urges FCC to Rescind Lifeline Verification Move
The FCC's revoking California's waiver from using the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) and federal eligibility determination will ultimately hurt the 1.77 million Californians receiving federal Lifeline support, the California Public Utilities Commission said. In a docket 11-42 filing Tuesday, the CPUC said the FCC's move also will hurt the 39 Lifeline providers designated as eligible telecommunications carriers serving those Californians. The FCC in November stopped the state from doing its own Lifeline subscriber verifications (see 2511200031).
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The CPUC said it has been opting out of NLAD under an FCC authorization for 13 years, with California's third-party administrator doing federal and state Lifeline eligibility determinations. That unified approach "has minimized consumer confusion, improved administrative efficiency, and reduced National Verifier costs," the CPUC said. But the FCC order will mean California customers will now need to submit two separate applications to get the combined subsidies they are eligible for. That creates "new opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse including erroneous transfers of service," the state agency said. It said having to submit a state and a separate federal Lifeline application will mean more consumer confusion and lead to application abandonment.
The CPUC said the FCC erroneously claims that California state law now bars the state agency from collecting Social Security numbers of applicants. The CPUC said California residents have two paths to apply for Lifeline: applicants with SSNs must provide the last four digits, while applicants without SSNs have to provide alternative identity documentation like a state driver's license, and those applicants are restricted to state-only support.