Universal-Service Program Salaries
Under Attack
On the heels of charges that the corporation administering the universal-service telecommunications discount program is usurping congressional authority, a group of senators is criticizing the salaries paid to executives of the Schools and Libraries Corporation.
Chief Executive Ira Fishman is paid $200,000 a year and may get a $50,000 bonus. Three other executives each make more than $100,000. "It's outrageous, and we're going to obviously have to do something about it,'' said Senate Commerce Committee Chair John McCain (R-Ariz.).
SLC Chair Kathleen Ouye, who is unpaid for her board work, called the salaries comparable to those paid other nonprofit executives. "We have a very small staff, but they put in a tremendous amount of hours," said Ouye. "If we were paying them on an hourly rate, these are the cheapest people in town.'' A Senate hearing on the administration of the universal-service program is set for April.
Posted March 16, 1998.
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