================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 58 ISSN 1069-7799 June 3, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (109 lines) URGENT ACTION ALERT: TUESDAY, JUNE 9 FCC DEADLINE: MESSAGE TO THE FCC AND CONGRESS -- KEEP THE E-RATE PROGRAM! _________________________________________________________________ URGENT ACTION ALERT: TUESDAY, JUNE 9 FCC DEADLINE: MESSAGE TO THE FCC AND CONGRESS -- KEEP THE E-RATE PROGRAM! URGENT ACTION ALERT: KEEP THE E-RATE PROGRAM! Given the increased visibility of critics and the Tuesday, June 9 FCC deadline, it is extremely important that library and school advocates keep up the messages to the FCC (1-888-CALL-FCC) and Congress (202-224-3121) that the e-rate program must continue to move forward. It cannot be stopped at this 11th hour with over 30,000 applications submitted to the Schools and Libraries Corporation. THE MESSAGE TO THE FCC AND CONGRESS: 1.) *IMPORTANT* - For those public and school libraries involved with the application process, please describe some of your pending activities awaiting the full funding of this discount program. 2.) DON'T CUT FUNDING FOR THESE DISCOUNTS. A $2.25 billion annual cap was put on the universal service fund designated for schools and libraries. Maintain this funding. 3.) KEEP ALL ELIGIBLE AND NECESSARY SERVICES IN PLACE. Keep inside connections and related services that will make these networks reach to the end-users. 4.) KEEP UNIVERSAL SERVICE MOVING FORWARD. Don't let other policy disputes disrupt this program. It must move forward to assure every community is connected by the year 2000. BACKGROUND: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that a surprise meeting will be held at on Tuesday, June 9 at 3pm to discuss important issues related to the universal service ("e-rate") program. The agenda will focus on: 1.) how much should be collected for the libraries, schools and rural health care discount programs; 2.) how and when such funds should be collected; and 3.) if or how such billing might appear on consumer bills. In a May 29 filing with the FCC, the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC) recommended the extension of the current funding year to 18 months. Under the SLC proposal, the end of the current funding year (January 1 - December 31, 1998) would be extended until July 1, 1999. The reason for this change, according to the SLC, is to bring the funding cycle closer to the funding cycles that most schools use (July 1-June 30). By bringing the e-rate program into alignment, the application process would be simplified for most schools and libraries, the SLC said. The SLC also recommended that the next application window open this fall, rather than on July 1, 1998. This would give applicants more time to put together their proposals. The deadline extension would also allow applicants to seek bids from a greater diversity of providers, and to plan for the more complete integration of e-rate supported services into the curriculum of a school or services of a library. Meanwhile, critics of the e-rate have become more visible. James Glassman, a widely-published syndicated columnist, wrote earlier this week about the e-rate program as the "Gore Tax." (One source of Glassman's article is "Gore's Internet Fiasco," Tuesday, June 2, 1998; page A13 in the Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com) This follows along on the TIME magazine article of May 25 with the same theme ("Gore's Costly High-Wire Act," by K. Tumulty and J.F. Dickerson at http://www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/980525/nation.gores_costly_high1.html). There are also reports that some radio talk shows are talking about the "Gore Tax." Calling the e-rate program the "Gore Tax" is very unfortunate and inaccurate since it was a bipartisan amendment to the 1996 Telecommunications Act sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe, (R-ME), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and supported by many others from both parties in Congress. ________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================