NDIA Affiliates Meet Legislators on Capitol Hill

On March 5th, 16 National Digital Inclusion Alliance affiliates from across the country, half of the NDIA team, and several of NDIA’s partners spent the day on Capitol Hill to share with Congress how NDIA’s 2,000 affiliates help people in their districts get and stay online safely. In total, we had 65 meetings with staff from the Senate and House offices of 23 states. We met with staff from both committees that oversee digital equity and broadband policy in the Senate and House—the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. We got to sit in on a live hearing that the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted on broadband programs. And bonus, some affiliates even got to meet their representatives in person! Our goal was to educate Members of Congress about the essential work that digital inclusion practitioners do across the country and how vital it is to their other goals and priorities. We also dedicated time to ensuring that congressional members and their staff understood the fundamentals of the Digital Equity Act (DEA), including its purpose, how it interacts with other broadband programs, and its current (precarious) status.