SACRAMENTO, Calif. (TND) -- A California agency is considering whether to allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to get discounted phone services.

The state's Public Utilities Commission will vote on Sept. 26 whether to expand eligibility for the California LifeLine program, which provides discounts on home and cell phone services, to people without social security numbers, according to Politico.

Currently, low-income residents can get a service discount of up to $19 per month and a service connection discount of up to $39.

"If an undocumented Californian falls on hard times, they should benefit from this program, just like every other Californian," Alice Reynolds, the Public Utilities Commission president who proposed the eligibility expansion, reportedly said.

State Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, criticized the proposal as a "handout" for people who haven't financially contributed to the program.

If you're down on your luck and we want to give you a hand up, not a handout, I'm for it," he said. "But to just continue to strap the everyday taxpayer with giving away assistance to people who haven't paid into the system? I'm opposed."

People participating in the program would have to show a government-issued I.D. when applying.

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The state agency would have to receive approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which in 2012 began requiring applicants for its federal Lifeline program to provide their social security information, according to Reynolds.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced last month it stopped buying cell phone minutes for people in its custody.Noncitizens previously received 520 free minutes each month, with funds stemming from Congress being used to support the services.