ACP extension sees glimmers of hope in Congress

The Affordable Connectivity Program got a boost in late July when both the Senate and House of Representatives moved toward an extension.

On July 30, a bipartisan group of lawmakers met a bill introduced in the House that would provide another $6 billion in funding for the program and change who is eligible for the program. The next day, Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee voted to provide ACP funding to the Plan for broadband law — the most significant progress an ACP extension has made to date. Yet neither bill has come to a vote, and passage remains an uphill battle.

When it expired in May, more than 23 million households were enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program. Anyone with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level was eligible for the $30 monthly rebate (or $70 for those living on tribal lands).

More than 1 in 5 households with an internet subscription in the US use the ACP, and it has near-unanimous support from voters: Public Opinion Strategies and RG Strategies Survey it turns out that 78% of voters want to renew the ACP, including 64% of Republicans, 70% of independents and 95% of Democrats.

A recent study A Chamber of Progress study also found that ACP subscribers would lose out on $10 billion in job creation, $1.4 billion in telehealth savings and $627 million in student benefits if the program ends.

But in a gridlocked Congress, popularity is no guarantee of survival. Voices as far afield as President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance have called for a delay in recent months, but nothing close to a vote has come to fruition.

“It would be a colossal waste of government money to let this program lapse,” Senate Broadband Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ben Ray Luján said during a May 2 hearing. “It would mean losing all the time and resources that the federal government and our state and local partners have put into setting up the program and enrolling 23 million households.”

Below are some other bills currently on the table in Congress.

ACP financing added to spectrum auction law in April

While previous ACP extension bills have been shelved, Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, is trying a different tactic: attaching ACP funding to a bill already in committee.

On April 26, Cantwell, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced an amendment to her draft legislation for wireless spectrum auctions, called the Spectrum and National Security Act. The bill would provide $7 billion to keep the ACP running — up from $5 billion in an earlier version — with the funding coming from wireless spectrum auctions. With its current registrationswhich would extend the ACP by just under 10 months.

The bill was expected to pass a markup session in the Senate Commerce Committee on May 1, but was abruptly withdrawn the night before. According to Communication Dailya website that covers telecom regulation, Cantwell told reporters that she decided to postpone the session when “we had a bunch of amendments filed” that would take too long to work through. It’s unclear when the bill will be revisited, with Cantwell saying only that it would be on the agenda “at a later date.”

Fetterman proposes permanent ACP funding

A few days after Cantwell added the ACP amendment to her bill, Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, introduced an amendment his own account to extend the program. The Promoting Affordable Connectivity Act would permanently fund the ACP by removing it from the appropriations process. Like Lifeline (see below), the ACP would be moved under the auspices of the Universal Service Fund.

According to Press release from FettermanInternet providers would pay for the program themselves on an ongoing basis. That said, the full text of the bill is not yet available, so details are scarce.

January bipartisan bill remains stalled

Although calls for an extension of the ACP have become increasingly urgent in recent weeks, one bill has been on the table for months. The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 was introduced in January by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives and would provide an additional $7 billion in funding. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Appropriations on January 10, and despite 230 co-sponsors in the House, no action has been taken since.

Other Internet Options for Low-Income People

With 23 million households facing higher internet bills this month, there are several options available for relief — though none on the scale of the ACP. Here are some other low-income programs available across the country:

• Lifeline: This federal program was originally created to help with phone bills, but you can now also take advantage of the $9.25 monthly benefit for home internet. Lifeline has stricter income requirements than the ACP — you must be at or below 135% of the federal poverty line, compared to 200% for the ACP — but it has been continuously funded for decades, so you don’t have to worry about your bill suddenly going up.
• Internet subscriptions for people with a low income: Internet providers such as AT&T, Spectrum, Verizon And Xfinity all offer their own discount plans for low-income customers. They typically cost between $10 and $30 per month and have similar income requirements to the ACP.
• State and local resources: Some states and cities have their own internet subsidies, which you can usually find by Googling “[location] internet sources.” Oregonfor example, offers an increased Lifeline benefit of $19.25 per month, while cities like Chicago and New York offer discounted internet access for families with school-age children or those living in public housing.