News
The U.S. Supreme Court, with a 6-3 ruling, has upheld the legality of the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a 2024 ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the Universal Service Fund (USF) unconstitutional.
The court’s ruling, issued today, comes almost a year after a 9-7 decision from the fifth circuit, which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, sent shockwaves through the telecommunications industry.
While ruling the USF unconstitutional last July, the New Orleans had ruled that “Congress delegated its taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission.”
The highest court in the land, however, disagrees.
The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, authored by Justice Elena Kagan, declared that the U.S. Congress “laid out the ‘general policy’ to be achieved” when they amended the Communications Act in 1996.
SCOTUS: USF ‘has led to a more fully connected country’
“For nearly three decades, the work of Congress and the Commission in establishing universal service programs has led to a more fully connected country,” the court’s opinion stated. “And it has done so while leaving fully intact the separation of powers integral to our Constitution.”
The Universal Service Fund, which was expanded by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, funds E-Rate and allows rural health care providers to pay rates for telecommunications services similar to those in urban areas. It also assists low-income customers with telecommunications affordability. Additionally, the fund provides support to certain qualifying telephone companies that serve high-cost areas.
Joining the majority opinion with Kagan was Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Meanwhile, dissenting were justices Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, and Clarance Thomas.
Originally, the USF’s Constitutionality was challenged by Consumers’ Research, a conservative group.
As previously reported, the USF is subsidized through fees paid by telecommunications carriers. The fund has supported programs like the High-Cost Program, the Connect America Fund, and the Lifeline Program.
The USF has also supported the Rural Health Care Program, and the Schools and Libraries Program.
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