Lawmakers and advocates scramble to extend affordable internet subsidy

Source: PBS News Hour/AP

Apr 30, 2024 3:44 PM EDT


WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-three million families in the U.S. will have bigger internet bills starting in May. That’s because a federal broadband subsidy program they’re enrolled in is nearly out of money.

Dozens of people joined Biden administration officials, advocates and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, at a Washington public library on Tuesday to make a last-ditch plea to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, a subsidy created by Congress and touted by President Joe Biden as part of his push to bring internet access to every U.S. household. The program, which is set to expire at the end of May, helps people with limited means pay their broadband bills.

“They need access to high-speed internet just like they need access to electricity,” Sen. Welch told the gathering. “This is what is required in a modern economy.” The Affordable Connectivity Program, which Congress created with $14.2 billion through the bipartisan infrastructure law, provided qualifying households with a subsidy of $30 a month to help pay their internet bills. Households on tribal land received up to $75.

That help will be slashed starting in May, when enrolled households will only receive partial credits toward their internet bills. Barring any Congressional action to infuse the Affordable Connectivity Program with more cash, the subsidies will end completely at the end of the month.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/lawmakers-and-advocates-scramble-to-extend-affordable-internet-subsidy