How E-Rate Became a Law

The impetus for the E-Rate came from a bipartisan proposal under the leadership of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and former Nebraska Senators James Exon (D) and Bob Kerrey (D). The E-Rate was included in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a law intended to create a competitive telecommunications marketplace for consumers. The E-Rate is part of the Universal Service Program, established in the 1930s to make telephone service available and affordable to all Americans. The Telecommunications Act authorized the Federal Communications Commission to implement the E-Rate.