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April 2020

This Rural IL School District Has Been Asking for Wi-Fi for Years. Now It’s Finally Getting It.

Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800 manila envelopes with learning packets and mailing them to students’ homes because many families in the area don’t have computers or high-speed internet. Trico District 176’s remote learning challenges were highlighted recently in a story that exposed a digital divide across Illinois as schools shifted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the Pandemic, the FCC Must Provide Internet for All

During Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s tenure, the number of Lifeline recipients has decreased by 40 percent and the program’s budget has shrunk accordingly. Less than 20 percent of Americans who are eligible for Lifeline take advantage of it. While Chairman Pai cloaks his so-called Lifeline “reforms” as efforts to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the majority of his actions have little to do with maintaining the integrity of the program and more to do with harming its recipients.

FCC Commissioner Starks on Congressional Call for Interagency Lifeline Coordination

Lifeline is the only federal program with the sole mission of bringing affordable communications to low-income Americans, and it is a critical aspect of our social safety net during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, we know that the number of Americans enrolling in the Lifeline program has remained relatively flat during this crisis, especially in comparison to the surging SNAP applications. Unfortunately, many eligible subscribers who could benefit from the Lifeline program are unaware that it exists. Only 7 million subscribers are enrolled in Lifeline and approximately 38 million are eligible.

Sens Klobuchar, Durbin, and Reps Fudge, Eshoo Lead 140 Colleagues in Urging the FCC to Coordinate With Other Federal Agencies to Inform Low-Income Families They Can Receive Broadband Services

Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Reps Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), along with 140 colleagues in both the House and Senate, urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to work directly with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the millions of Americans who are now eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid due to job loss or reduction in income are informed that they are also eligible for the FCC’s Lifeline program.

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