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S 1380 108th Congress Senate Science, Technology, Communications Congress Congressional investigations Housing and Community Development Telephone Telephone rates

Rural Universal Service Equity Act of 2003

Introduced: July 9, 2003 See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 7 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Dec 7, 2004
By Senator McCain from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 108-422.
Nov 19, 2004
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 809.
Nov 19, 2004
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator McCain without amendment. Without written report.
Sep 22, 2004
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Jul 9, 2003
Introduced in Senate
Jul 9, 2003
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9122)
Jul 9, 2003
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9121-9122)
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Rural Universal Service Equity Act of 2003 - Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the need to reform the high cost support mechanism (with respect to universal telephone service) for rural, insular, and high cost areas.

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in calculating Federal universal service support for eligible telecommunications carriers that serve such areas, to revise its support mechanism for high cost areas to provide support to each wire center in which the incumbent local exchange carrier's average cost per line exceeds the national average by such amount as the FCC determines appropriate for the purpose of ensuring the equitable distribution of universal service support throughout the United States. Requires: (1) the FCC to ensure that no State receives less Federal support than it would have received, up to ten percent of the total support distributed, under the FCC's previous support mechanism; and (2) the total amount of support for all States to be equal to the total support calculated under the support mechanism in existence before enactment of this Act.

States that nothing in this Act shall affect the support provided to rural telephone companies.

What's happening now December 7, 2004

By Senator McCain from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 108-422.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1