Warning to California Latinos: $600 Million Phone Bill Hike Opposed by LULAC, Other Groups

“A warning today for Latinos, seniors and other consumers in California: You stand to be the biggest losers in the United States under a widely criticized plan to shift the burden of who pays the federal “Universal Service Fund” (USF) tax on long-distance phone bills. A proposal backed by America’s biggest telephone companies could saddle California with a $582.43 million annual tax hike, according to the urgent warning from the California League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Consumer Federation of California, and the California Alliance for Retired Americans.

Under a major push now being mounted in Washington by AT&T, BellSouth, USTelecom, Verizon, IDT Corporation and others, California easily exceeds Texas as the biggest “loser” state under the anti-consumer proposal to shift the USF from a consumer-friendly, pay-for-what-you-use tax on long-distance to a regressive per-connection charge that would be imposed on every phone line whether or not consumers made any long-distance calls at all.”

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