WASHINGTON, D.C.//May 22, 2008/// Three of the United States' most influential anti-tax groups -National Taxpayers Union (NTU), Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and Americans For Prosperity (AFP) -- are calling for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take further action to rein in "the runaway Universal Service Fund" phone tax, including impositions of reverse auctions and a new push to wipe out costly USF fraud, waste and abuse.
The joint statement by the three groups also was signed by The Seniors Coalition and the Maryland Taxpayers Association, which, along with ATR and AFP, are members of CapTheFund.org (www.CapTheFund.org).
In the statement, the five groups said: "Phone taxes are out of control in America. Wireless customers pay a crippling $21 billion per year in taxes and fees. American consumers deserve less taxation and more common sense from their government. We encourage the FCC to move forward immediately with needed reforms to further rein in the runaway Universal Service Fund."
The joint statement outlines a three-step action plan: "The FCC took a big step forward to save taxpayers their hard-earned dollars with the 'interim' cap on companies subsidized by the High-Cost Fund. That portion of the USF was intended to provide phone service to people in remote rural areas, but has turned into a slush fund of subsidies for too many telephone companies all serving the same areas. However, there is much more work the FCC needs to do to protect American taxpayers now shelling out $7 billion annually for the USF. The FCC-imposed cap on USF waste is only interim in nature; it should be made permanent. Further, we urge the FCC to adopt comprehensive high-cost universal service reform, including:
The customizable letter for consumers now featured on CapTheFund.org reads as follows: "As a phone consumer, I urge you to put an end to the waste and abuse under the $7 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) tax phone bills. I support a cap that would be imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on High Cost Support under the Universal Service Fund. I also am in favor of the two pending proposals to reform the manner in which high cost support is distributed. Specifically, I support the use of reverse auctions and limits on 'identical support' to reduce the amount of money wasted on USF ...
1 - Imposing reverse auctions to ensure cost-efficient spending of USF monies. This is perhaps the single best way of protecting the pocketbooks of taxpayers.
2 - Wiping out fraud, waste and abuse of USF tax dollars. We are deeply disturbed by reports that the spending of as many as one out of five High-Cost Fund USF dollars cannot be accounted for properly.
3 - Proceeding with elimination of identical support so that multiple phone companies serving the same areas do not receive the same amount of subsidization regardless of their costs."
ABOUT THE GROUPS
National Taxpayers Union is the nation's largest and oldest taxpayer group, with 362,000 members nationwide. NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: For further information about NTU, visit www.ntu.org.
Americans for Tax Reform (http://www.atr.org/) is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose any and all federal and state tax increases. ATR was founded in 1985 by Grover Norquist at the request of President Reagan. ATR serves as a national clearinghouse for the grassroots taxpayers' movement by working with approximately 800 state and county level groups.
Americans for Prosperity (http://www.americansforprosperity.org/) is committed to educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process. AFP is an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state and federal levels. The grassroots members of AFP advocate for public policies that champion the principles of entrepreneurship and fiscal and regulatory restraint.
The Seniors Coalition (http://www.senior.org) is a non-profit, 501(c)(4), non-partisan, education and issue advocacy organization that represents the interests and concerns of America's senior citizens at both the state and federal levels. Its mission is to protect the quality of life and economic well-being that older Americans have earned while supporting common sense solutions to the challenges of the future. The Coalition was founded as a public advocacy group during the fight to repeal the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act in 1989. Since then, it has grown rapidly and expanded our advocacy to include a wide range of other important issues.
The Maryland Taxpayers Association (http://www.mdtaxes.org) is a 501(c)(4) non-partisan, not-for-profit, volunteer grass-roots organization which asks Maryland elected officials for their pledge not to raise taxes, acts to make Maryland government more efficient, and organizes and chairs the Maryland Center-Right Coalition and the Maryland Leadership Conference.
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com.