Hundreds of thousands of Alabamians have jumped on board a federal program allowing them to get a free cell phone paid for by taxpayer dollars, some even getting more than one phone.
According to a recent report by WVTM in Birmingham, 211,519 Alabamians currently have a taxpayer funded phone through a program called “Lifeline.” That equates to 1 in every 23 people in the state.
Tax funded cell phones, now commonly referred to as “Obama phones,” were a hot topic during the 2012 presidential election. The program became a symbol for many taxpayers of government gone wild. But the blame may not entirely be on President Obama, according to Darrell Baker of the Alabama Public Service Commission.
Baker told WVTM that the Lifeline program was started in the ’80’s under Ronald Reagan, but was originally created to provide landline phones to individuals in great need. Cell phones were then added to the program in 2008 while President Bush was in office.
In order to qualify to receive a phone, recipients only need to be receiving aide from federal programs like Social Security, Medicaid, Section 8, or food stamps.
But oversight of the program has been a significant issue. When cell phones were added to Lifeline, no documentation was required to prove eligibility. If someone applied for the program, they were mostly taken at their word that they qualified. As a result, thousands upon thousands of individuals have abused the program in order to receive a free cell phone.
The FCC audited the Lifeline program and found that 34,250 Alabama households had more than one free phone, at an additional cost to Alabama taxpayers of $3.6 million. Subscribers with more than one phone have reportedly since been removed from the program’s roll.
Changes made to the program after the audit resulted in the application process requiring documentation. Individuals who are approved for the program also now have to renew their certification each year, and a database is expected to be running by the end of 2013 to completely cutout households having more than one federally funded phone.
“We take abuse of our rules seriously and are acting aggressively to enforce them in order to preserve this program for the less fortunate among us who rely on Lifeline to reach emergency service, jobs, and loved ones,” FCC spokesperson Mark Wigfield told WVTM.
The federal program shows up on your phone bill under surcharges as “Federal Universal Service Charge.”
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