This month more than 23 million homes will lose affordable internet access as part of a pandemic-era federal program that provided low-income households with a credit of between $30 and $75 toward their monthly utility bill. Without this help, millions of people are at risk of losing their access to the web (or have already lost it).
Some legislators They had been trying to allocate more funds to prevent the program from expiring or ending on June 1, but were unable to get a vote. Wednesday, a key Senate committee to vote on the Spectrum and Homeland Security Act of 2024, which includes $7 billion to restore aid through the end of this year while Congress works on long-term solutions for broadband affordability.
The House would also have to approve the bill. Since digital access is no longer a luxury, but an essential requirement of daily life, an extension of the program is reasonable.
The depth of the digital divide came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of our lives were spent online. Many people were forced to work from home and students were forced to attend classes via Zoom. But those with limited financial resources were unable to transfer their lives online smoothly.
Congress passed the Affordable Connectivity Act in 2021 to provide $14.2 billion in help to qualified households to pay for monthly Internet service and obtain laptops, tablets or desktop computers with a unique discount up to $100. But the funding has run out.
There is a similar federal aid program still available called Lifeline, which was established in 1984 to help low-income households pay for landline telephone connections. Currently, qualifying households can receive a credit of up to $9.25 per month and apply it to landline, cell phone service or broadband services.
“There was a big assumption that everyone was connected, and the pandemic showed that they were not,” said Norma Fernández, executive director of EveryoneOn, a nonprofit organization that focuses on providing connectivity to communities in need.
The ACP program was one of the first federal programs to directly address affordable broadband access and had an immediate effect. California has the most ACP enrollment of any state, with nearly 3 million households, or about 20%, relying on that funding. AND only 47% of eligible households in California enrolled in this program, meaning there were still families who could have had more financial support.
To be eligible for the ACP, applicants had to qualify for other federal programs such as Medicaid, be at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or meet eligibility for other low-income Internet programs.
A temporary extension of funding for ACP countries is a short-term solution to the connectivity problem, and policymakers know it. The Internet is constantly evolving and new technologies are introduced daily. We need permanent programs that help those on the wrong side of the digital divide or the divide will continue to grow.
At least in California, there are many organizations, local leaders and activists working on this issue. For example, the city of Long Beach used grants and other funds to hire staff to focus on digital equity and provide temporarily subsidized broadband internet to residents, small businesses and nonprofits, said Rebecca Kauma, chief equity officer. digital from the Los Angeles County Department of Internal Services. .
The ACP was one of the resources that helped the nation reduce the digital divide. Let's not take a step back.
