California Regulator Asks FCC to Reverse Course on Lifeline Revocation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2025 – California regulators are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its recent decision to strip the state of its authority to verify eligibility for the federal Lifeline program.

In a petition filed Tuesday, Dec. 23, with the FCC, the California Public Utilities Commission said the FCC’s Nov. 20 order revoking California’s authority to run its own Lifeline verification system incorrectly concluded that a new state law prevents compliance with federal rules.

“This abrupt change occurred without coordination between the Universal Service Administration Company and the CPUC,” the petition signed by CPUC's deputy executive director for broadband and communications Ana Maria Johnson states. “It will negatively impact the 1.77 million Californians currently receiving federal Lifeline support as well as the 39 Lifeline providers.”

The FCC said in November that California privacy law AB 1303 made it “effectively impossible” for the program’s administrator to comply with federal Lifeline integrity requirements, arguing the law undermines fraud prevention by restricting Social Security number collection.

“This is incorrect,” CPUC said, disputing those claims. California’s enrollment process “fully meets the federal rules” and continues to require the last four digits of a Social Security number for all applicants seeking federal Lifeline support, the petition states.

“Customers without an SSN are restricted to state-only support,” CPUC clarified. “Their applications will not be submitted for federal eligibility determination.”

The CPUC said it shares the FCC’s commitment to program integrity and fraud prevention, but argued that dismantling California’s unified verification system will undermine those goals rather than advance them.

Since 2012, the FCC has allowed California to use its own system instead of the National Lifeline Accountability Database. That system, coordinated with the USAC, was designed to reduce consumer confusion and administrative costs.

“We respectfully request that the FCC reconsider the Order to prevent widespread service disruption,” the commission wrote, calling for continued collaboration between state and federal regulators.

In 2024, nearly 80 percent of federal Lifeline participants in California were automatically recertified through CalFresh, California’s food assistance program, allowing eligible households to remain enrolled without submitting additional paperwork.

Removing that automated pathway, the CPUC warned, will lead to more manual reviews, more denials, and service disruptions for eligible customers.

More than 98 percent of California’s 1.77 million Lifeline participants rely on both state and federal subsidies to afford phone service, CPUC said.