ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 10, Number 6 February 5, 2001 In this issue: E-RATE Supporters: Contact Your Representatives and Senators! Proposals from the Bush Administration would move the E-rate program into a block grant with other technology programs in the U.S. Department of Education. It is unclear how libraries and private/parochial schools would be treated in the new program if it should happen. Some fear libraries might even be cut from the program. There is also at least one congressional proposal from Rep. Gene Green (D-Tx) that would latch onto allegedly uncommitted E-rate funds to provide school computer labs with $25,000 grants. E-rate Supporters: Please contact all of your Representatives and Senators and ask them to fight these proposals. The U.S. Capitol Switchboard number is: 202-224- 3121. Below are proposed "Talking Points." Please contact us if you have any questions. We would also appreciate any feedback you receive from your calls or contacts. The E-rate program is: * local - based on local needs, resources, and requests * accountable - through review of plans and other controls * targeted - with the vast majority of funds targeted to communities with the highest poverty levels. TALKING POINTS FOR THE E-RATE PROGRAM * Our libraries have received $________ over the past 3 years for.. * Our state has received $_______ over the past 3 years for .. * We have been able to expand public access to the Internet and other related library online services from (example: number of terminals, level of connectivity such as T-1 lines, etc.) in _______ 1997 to ______ in 2001. * Before the E-rate there were only________libraries in our state that had Internet access. Now _______libraries are connected and we are closer to meeting the demands in larger libraries by_______ etc. etc. etc. Additional Background Talking Points * The E-Rate discounts leverage significant new investment in technology in libraries and schools. Savings realized from the discounts are being reinvested into other needs. * The E-rate is a federal initiative that expands and updates this country's long-standing national policy goal of Universal Service to include schools and libraries -- by providing discounts on telecommunications and Internet related technologies. * The E-Rate program is administered by the FCC, where it has prospered under its stewardship by providing a secure, reliable, and equitable source of continual funding to connect libraries and schools to discounted Internet related services. * The E-Rate program was one of the few and very important public interest provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Part of the reason the E-Rate is in the Universal Service program is it was part of the bargain for major deregulation of telecommunications industries that the industries wanted at the time of the passage of the Act. * The E-Rate program specifically targets telecommunications and inside wiring (and NOT software or infrastructure) because of the demonstrated need that libraries and schools cited. The ongoing costs of connectivity were, and continue to be, a major problem to sustain and expand these programs as e-education and electronic access to information develop. * The E-Rate program is locally controlled, community based, and accountable -- allowing each school and library that applies for E- Rate funding to design a system that works best for them. * The Administration's current proposal will deny important financial resources to libraries, once again marginalizing access to Internet related services to those poor and underserved communities which most desperately need and rightfully deserve them. Further, private and parochial schools would also be affected should the program be moved under the U.S. Department of Education. * It has been affirmed in court cases and other analyses that Universal Service funds are NOT a tax. These are not funds that can be summarily moved from the purview of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the U.S. Department of Education which functions with appropriated funds from tax revenues. * Discounts range from 20 to 90 percent based on the poverty level in the local community, and schools and libraries are required to pay the non-discounted portion of the bill themselves. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) funds the program up to $2.25 billion annually, contingent upon demand. These funds are collected as part of the Universal Service contributions made by the appropriate telecommunications companies. * The E-rate discount program is playing a central role in bridging the Digital Divide by bringing new technologies and the power of the Internet to America's libraries and schools. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll- free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Mary Costabile, Peter Kaplan, Miriam Nisbet and Claudette Tennant. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell and Saundra Shirley. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.