Lawmakers Propose Using FCC E-Rate Funds to Boost Individuals’ Internet Access

As the pandemic pushes Americans into online school and work, lawmakers are calling for ways to address the “digital divide”—the great number of people who don’t have consistent or reliable internet access. Reps Donna Shalala (D-FL) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) spotlighted ways in which they are working to confront and help close the gap during a livestream conversation hosted by The Washington Post Spet 30. In the course of the chat, they proposed pivoting the government’s digital divide-centered focus from connecting organizations, to more directly hone in on connecting individual people and families. “We need to do a lot more for individuals and, you know [McMorris Rodgers], there's a lot of money in the E-Rate program—about $2 billion, I think—sitting over there at the [Federal Communications Commission] and we ought to be using it to get to individuals,” Rep Shalala said. “What we're talking about now is not institutions, but individuals, and getting it to families so the kids have access.”