Keep USF Fair Coalition Support Continues to Grow
Two groups join Coalition, Urge FCC, Congress to Keep the Universal Service Fund Collection System Fair

WASHINGTON, DC (September 1, 2005) - The Keep USF Fair Coalition today announced two new members -- The Seniors Coalition (TSG) and the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition (MCRC).  TSG and MCRC are committed to the coalition’s efforts to keep the Universal Service Fund (USF) collection method fair, and oppose proposals to move to a regressive, per-line flat fee.

The Seniors Coalition is a 4-million-member, non-profit education and issue advocacy organization.  TSC works to “protect the quality of life and economic well-being that older Americans have earned while supporting common sense solutions to the challenges of the future.”  Earlier this month, TSC filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission opposing a move to a numbers based system, stating, “Such changes to the existing rules would be unfair and discriminatory towards America’s seniors.”

MCRC is a non-profit organization made up of individuals and organizations concerned about educating, protecting and advocating for Maryland consumers. MCRC is a member of the Consumer Federation of America, and often coordinates efforts with national consumer organizations on issues of concern to Maryland consumers. "The FCC’s proposal would hurt people that are least able to afford it—the elderly, minorities, small business owners and other low-volume telephone users, said MCRC Executive Director Cheryl Hystad, “MCRC is pleased to join the 18 organizations and 100,000 of consumers working to keep the USF fair."

Keep USF Fair also has received support through a resolution passed recently by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA). The resolution recognizes that a "restructuring effort of the Universal Services Fee must find a fair method, competitively neutral, that takes into consideration new technologies," and says that a "flat fee or exclusively numbers-based plan would be unfair to millions of consumers, especially lower call volume users if they would now pay the same fee as high volume, business users."

### 

The Keep USF Fair Coalition was formed in April 2004.  Over 93,000 current members (as of June 30, 2005) 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,  National Association Of The Deaf,  National Grange, National Hispanic Council on Aging, National Native American Chamber of Commerce, Telecommunications Research & Action Center, and World Institute On Disability. The NAACP is a current 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.