Assembly OKs low-income phone rates

Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill that could reduce the telephone bills of an estimated 140,000 low-income families in Nevada was passed 41-0 Monday by the Assembly.

Assemblyman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, said Senate Bill 487 would provide a $5.25-a-month subsidy on basic service to families that qualify.

Customers now have to ask to be enrolled in the reduced-rate program, called "lifeline." The bill would require that the state set the guidelines and give telephone companies a list of people every six months who qualify with low incomes.

The telephone companies would then notify the potential customers they are eligible.

The state Bureau of Consumer Protection estimates that less than 10,000 of the 150,000 eligible families now receive lifeline rates. In Las Vegas, home to the largest number of eligible families, the bureau says fewer than 5 percent are signed up.

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