California Wants to Bring LifeLine ‘Into the 21st Century’
The California LifeLine program will be changing, as the California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 Thursday afternoon in favor of Resolution T-17366. The resolution adjusts how California runs its LifeLine program, with many of the changes implemented to comply with the FCC’s Lifeline reform order issued earlier this year (http://xrl.us/bngnwe). California LifeLine customers will, according to the resolution draft (http://xrl.us/bngn2c), now be required to provide supporting documentation and have slightly different eligibility requirements, but the commission also opened a discussion for how to reform LifeLine in a way that would embrace 21st-century technology both in the process of applications and in the telecommunications devices covered.
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"This is an important step for bringing the LifeLife program into the 21st century,” said Commissioner Catherine Sandoval at the PUC meeting. She outlined the need for updating the technology. “A lot of people do not have scanners at home. A lot of people do not have copiers at home,” Sandoval said, which she called a “major impediment” to how these programs run and underscore the commission’s need to “look at new technology,” such as emailing completed LifeLine applications.
Much of the current LifeLine process is “archaic,” said Commissioner Michel Florio. He compared the LifeLine system to the Department of Motor Vehicles and lamented systems in which an applicant has to physically go to a building to receive and submit a given form. “I think we can do better than the DMV,” Florio said. He cautioned that in these changes, the commission should not contribute to a “meltdown” or create more problems than they solve.
These LifeLine reforms have strong implications for low-income people, speakers said. The homeless need more mobile telecommunications devices, a San Francisco homeless advocate testified at the Thursday meeting. Bevan Dufty, director of Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE), told commissioners “access to mobile devices will make a big difference here” among the homeless. Dufty’s testimony focused on a broader conversation on a “technology-neutral approach for LifeLine” program subsidies. HOPE is focused on improving life in eight of San Francisco’s public housing sites through, as the organization describes on its website, “holistic revitalization.” The San Francisco government launched HOPE over the course of the last half decade with millions of dollars to its name, according to the organization’s website. LifeLine rates will need to stay capped at their current levels if they are to truly serve low-income people, several California consumer advocates said in comments filed in late June.
Commissioner Timothy Simon said he viewed LifeLine as a key area to focus on for commission members. “I'm happy to see an increased focus on LifeLine,” he said. The broader reforms and attention to technology remained a dominant theme among the commissioners as they considered the vote before them. “We are committed to getting this moving as soon as possible,” Sandoval said.