E-rate funding restarts, but crisis continues

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system. When the program was halted in mid-August, USAC had committed only about $800 million of the $2.5 billion budget for fiscal 2004 available for reimbursements, Blackwell said.

The games politicians play
Congress has tried to intervene to help keep money flowing more smoothly. Over the weekend, the House of Representatives passed as part of a larger package of bills language that would exempt the Universal Services Fund, which includes the E-rate program, from having to adhere to the federal law that requires it to comply with government accounting rules. The exemption would be for one year, giving Congress sufficient time in the next session to work on a permanent solution.

But the measure has stalled in the Senate. According to several sources, Sen. John McCain, Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has refused to put his stamp of approval on the package of legislation because it does not include a bill he drafted to reform boxing regulations.

E-rate had already come under fire earlier this year as claims of abuse, fraud and waste surfaced.

"Everybody in the E-rate program has been raked over the coals because of all the waste, fraud and abuse," said Rawson, Mississippi's E-rate coordinator. "And that's fine. But now self-serving politics by a certain senator is preventing the program from going forward. And I think that is affecting more people and is more detrimental than all the waste, fraud and abuse that has happened."

McCain's office did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

The Senate is currently in recess. The issue could come up again in December if the Senate meets before the Christmas holiday. For now, USAC's Blackwell said that the current government accounting rules will continue to be used.

"There's nothing we can do about it until Congress passes a law that says we don't have to follow these rules," he said.