Today's Regulatory Mix: FCC Announces Tentative March 2020 Meeting Agenda, Kansas Adopts KUSF Administrative Penalties for Changing Report Elections, Michigan Enacts Bill Amending Lifeline Law
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released the tentative agenda for the FCC’s March 31, 2020, Open Meeting. The following items will be considered:
The State Corporation Commission of Kansas (Commission) has adopted new criteria for a carrier seeking to change its annual Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) reporting election, KUSF administrative penalties (in addition to those imposed by the KUSF Administrator (GVNW)), and KUSF penalty guidelines for non-compliance with KUSF obligations. Among other things: (1) providers will only be allowed to change their reporting elections on a prospective basis and must be in compliance with all KUSF obligations, including payment of outstanding penalties; (2) the Commission will levy KUSF administrative penalties on a case-by-case basis, based on GVNW and staff recommendations; and (3) the Commission adopted KUSF penalty guidelines under which monthly fines will range from $100 to $5,000 and will be adjusted based on a set of specific factors. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 3/11/20.
The Governor of Michigan has signed a bill into law that amends the state’s existing lifeline law. Among other things, the changes were made to align Michigan’s lifeline program with federal criteria and allows for service providers to opt out of providing lifeline starting in 2022. The amended law retains the existing eligibility criteria for lifeline service through December 31, 2019. Starting January 1, 2020, the criteria to qualify for the program is the same as the federal lifeline program. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 3/10/20.
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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.