Description:
S. 2427 would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility and effects of assessing fees that would be credited to the Universal Service Fund on broadband providers and entities providing online content or services. Under current law, only telecommunications carriers pay those fees. Using information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the study would cost $1 million over the 2022-2023 period. However, because the FCC is authorized to collect fees each year sufficient to offset the appropriated costs of its regulatory activities, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. If the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the costs of implementing the bill, S. 2427 would increase the cost of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and fall well below the threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($184 million in 2022, adjusted annually for inflation).
