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John,
Today is a Don't Disconnect US Day of Action and funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will run out if Congress doesn’t act fast. In fact, the program is already winding down by not allowing new sign-ups and alerting program participants that their subsidy will end soon.1
All of this can―and must―be prevented.
Millions of people across the country rely on internet service to pay bills, apply for jobs, finish their school work, and see medical professionals through telehealth appointments. If the ACP, which helps provide internet access to over 22 million low-income households, were to shut down, it would impact 1 in 6 households.2 It will also recreate major rifts in our countrys’ digital racial gap.3
Black and Hispanic households are disproportionately impacted by lack of broadband access and―according to Deutsche Bank in 2020:
“Due to the structural and infrastructural inequities, Blacks and Hispanics are 10 years behind Whites in levels of broadband access and almost 4 times more Blacks have poor Tech connectivity than Whites. In the era of Tech innovation, a year can be a lifetime. The impact of being 10 years behind is a staggering manifestation of multiple aspects of economic and societal development.”
By expanding internet access and making it affordable, Congress made a difference for a wide range of people without reliable access to broadband. ACP is reaching one in four African American and Latino households. Its largest percentage gains in enrollment have been in rural areas4; nearly half of military families are enrolled. Now Congress must not fail to sustain the progress it has made by investing in vulnerable communities, which will have major impacts for generations to come as technology becomes increasingly integral to work, education, health, and our everyday lives.
Send a message to Congress for the Don't Disconnect US Day of Action demanding they renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program now.
SIGN & SEND
Thank you for all you do,
Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs
1 Millions of Americans could soon lose home internet access if lawmakers don’t act
2 FACT SHEET: As Affordable Connectivity Program Hits Milestone of Providing Affordable High-Speed Internet To 23 Million Households Nationwide, Biden-Harris Administration Calls on Congress to Extend Its Funding
3 Digital racial gap could ‘render the country’s minorities into an unemployment abyss,’ says Deutsche Bank
4 Georgetown University McDonough School of Business: What Do the Early Data Indicate About the Affordable Connectivity Program?
-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --
John,
Twenty-three million low-income Americans are at risk of losing internet access starting this month if Congress doesn’t move quickly and renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)―a popular program aimed at reducing the digital divide between those who can afford broadband access and those who cannot.
The ACP was passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Its purpose is to provide households with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line (or about $30,000 for a single adult) with a monthly stipend of $30 ($75 for Native people living on Tribal lands) to help ensure internet access to all.1
Now, with 1 in 6 households benefiting and despite strong bipartisan support for the program, it is running out of money. The FCC, which runs the program, has already had to stop taking new subscribers. So, this past Fall, President Biden called for an additional $6 billion to extend the ACP through 2024. In his newest budget proposal, the president renewed that request. Congress needs to act now.
The internet is critical to our everyday lives. Send a direct message to Congress to renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
SIGN & SEND
The ACP has strong bipartisan and bicameral support. In January U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), JD Vance (R-Ohio), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and U.S. Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) introduced the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would provide $7 billion in funding for the ACP.2
This legislation would easily pass both chambers of Congress, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring it up for a vote. Refused―despite the fact that 29% of his constituents in the congressional district he serves were enrolled in the program as of February.3
Digital connectivity is a civil rights issue and the internet must be treated as a public utility. We use the internet to apply for jobs, perform our jobs, receive online medical care, and pay bills; students use it to complete homework assignments. But for millions of people in rural and urban areas and Tribal communities, the internet is a luxury they cannot afford.
A 2019 study revealed that 18% of Native people living on Tribal land have no access to the internet, 33% rely on cell phone service for the internet, and 39% have spotty or no connection to the internet at home on their smart phone.4 Indian Country is made up of 574 federally recognized Tribes on 33 reservations in 35 states on 100 million acres of land and the ACP has enrolled 320,000 households on Tribal lands―important progress.5
Internet access is such an essential part of modern life that Congress must do everything in its power to ensure that everyone has access. The Affordable Connectivity Program is reaching those who need it. In a survey of enrollees, more than three-quarters said “losing ACP support would disrupt their service or cause them to drop internet service entirely.”6
Click here to tell Congress to renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program today.
Thank you for all you do,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
1 If Congress doesn’t act now many Americans might lose broadband access
2 Welch, Vance, Rosen, Cramer, Clarke and Fitzpatrick Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Extension of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to Continue Closing the Digital Divide
3 White House Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Affordable Connectivity Program is Delivering in Louisiana
4 Tribal Technology Assessment
5 Indigenous Digital Sovereignty: From the Digital Divide to Digital Equity
6 FCC: The Affordable Connectivity Program: A Need-to-Have for Closing the Digital Divide
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