Summary
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the legality of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, which raises $9 billion annually to expand phone and internet access.
The 5th Circuit Court previously ruled the fund unconstitutional.
It held that Congress improperly delegated legislative power to the FCC and that the FCC unlawfully transferred authority to a private company, the Universal Service Administrative Company.
The FCC defends the fund as lawful, citing congressional authorization. A decision is expected by June, amid heightened scrutiny of federal agency powers.
Not sure how much but a big chunk of that money goes towards E-rate. Basically a piggy bank that USAC uses to subsidize networking and Internet connectivity technology across the country for K-12 schools and libraries. And let me tell you, if they didn’t most schools would be still be running extremely outdated networking tech and Internet connectivity. Which would mean American schools falling even further behind on technology literacy, greater security holes in the network, and much more inequality across education across the country.