On January 2, 2019, the FCC released a Public Notice on the impact of the Federal Government partial shutdown on FCC operations. As Funds For Learning reported on December 20, 2018, The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is not funded through the federal appropriations process and USAC employees and their contractors will all be able to continue to work in the event of a partial Federal Government shutdown. USAC will be able to continue to review pending Form 471 applications, release commitments and disbursements as they typically do. The FCC Public Notice specifically states that any filings with USAC and other certain programs still must be filed timely with the entity during this timeframe and that “…..these programs will continue to operate…during a shutdown.”
While the FCC’s Electronic Filing System will still be available to the public, the FCC is “extending the normal filing deadlines under the Commission’s rules so that all Commission submissions that would be due during a suspension of operations….will be due on the second day of normal operations.” The FCC Shutdown Public Notice can be viewed here.
