Internet access is not a luxury. Congress should extend connectivity aid program

More than 23 million households 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 service bill. Without this aid millions of people risk losing their access to the web — or already have. Some lawmakers had been trying to allocate more funds to prevent the program from expiring or ending on June 1, but they were not able to get a vote. The ACP program was one of the first federal programs that directly addressed affordable broadband access and it had an immediate effect. California has the most ACP enrollments 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 that could have had more financial support. An extension of the program is reasonable. A temporary extension of funding for ACP is a short-term solution to the connectivity issue, and lawmakers know that. The internet is constantly evolving with new technologies being introduced daily. We need permanent programs that help those on the wrong side of the digital divide or the gap will continue to grow.