Reactions to Broadband Benefit Programs Being Included in the HEROES Act

Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives unveiled the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, a new  COVID-19 stimulus bill that includes, among other things, billions in broadband benefit programs. An “Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund” would provide up to $50 a month subsidy for broadband Internet access service or up to $75 in the case of Tribal lands for low-income households and others who have experienced a substantial loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would also provide new funds to support connected devices for K-12 students under the FCC's E-Rate program.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA): “With schools closed and millions out of work, Congress must use its powers to keep Americans connected.  This bill keeps all of our kids safe and digitally connected, providing $1.5 billion immediately for online distance learning. It also provides much-needed support to struggling families, those who are low-income or have someone in the family who has been furloughed or laid off, by providing them a monthly credit of up to $50 on their internet service bills.  We’re hopeful that this legislation will garner strong, bipartisan support so we can stand up for children and families who are struggling during this pandemic.”

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR): “Don’t be fooled by the name of this massive package. Heroes are not partisans, but this legislation is. Written behind closed doors in the Speaker’s Office, House Democrats confess this legislation has no chance of becoming law, yet they wasted time writing an 1,815 page spending manifesto rather than working with us to craft real solutions. We’ve all been inspired by Americans from every walk of life stepping up and working together to get through this terrible time. Congress should do the same."

Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate Gigi Sohn: "The House bill makes clear what most Americans have known for months – that every American must have access to robust broadband Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadband Internet access is vital to learning, working, shopping, obtaining health care, connecting with friends and family and importantly, to social distancing. By creating an Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund, the House bill would help mitigate the biggest cause of this country’s digital divide -- affordability -- and would do it in a way that minimizes red tape and ensures that all Americans who are suffering economically right now can stay connected. The House bill also mandates that the FCC permit E-Rate funding to be used for connected devices for students outside the four walls of a school and library. While the FCC could have itself provided such funding over the past 2 months when it was desperately needed, it was unwilling to do so. The “homework gap” has now become an “education gap” for some 12 million American school age children. This funding will help to fill this gap. The Senate left support for affordable broadband connectivity on the cutting room floor in the last COVID-19 stimulus negotiations. As a matter of public health and the health of the US economy, the House broadband provisions must be included in the next COVID-19 stimulus bill."

John Windahusen Jr., Executive Director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition: "By introducing the HEROES Act, House Democrats show that they recognize the vital importance of connecting people they serve to affordable broadband during and after the COVID-19 health crisis. But the legislation does not provide sufficient funding for schools, libraries, and healthcare providers to address the school closures, health crises, and economic dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The SHLB Coalition has proposed $2 billion in appropriations for the Rural Health Care program and $5.25 billion for E-rate to the Home, and we encourage Congress to provide these resources as soon as possible." 

Joshua Stager, Senior Counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute: “Millions of Americans lack access to the internet during this pandemic, and that is its own public health crisis. People cannot realistically comply with shelter-in-place orders if they don’t have home access to online services. From remote learning to teleworking to telemedicine to grocery shopping, virtually every aspect of daily life now requires internet connectivity. Closing the digital divide must be a core element of the federal government’s COVID-19 response, and the Heroes Act is a vital first step. This legislation provides the connectivity stimulus that we’ve needed for months. We look forward to working with Congress on this critically important effort.”

Jenna Leventoff, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge: “We commend House Democrats for leading the charge to help everyone get or stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although connectivity was critical before this pandemic, it is particularly critical when most Americans are being told to stay at home. This legislation contains key provisions to ensure that broadband is affordable to both those who could not afford it before the pandemic, and those who cannot afford it now. It also ensures that no one is cut off from this vital service due to an inability to pay and that students without broadband can get connected so that they don’t fall behind their peers during the pandemic. We encourage Congress to pass this package as well as additional legislation aimed at fully closing the digital divide once this pandemic ends. Just as no American should be forced to go without food, water, or electricity, no American should be forced to go without essential communications over broadband. Our nation must prioritize closing the digital divide both during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the long term.”

Free Press Action Vice President of Policy and General Counsel Matt Wood: “The House majority is taking the COVID-19 crisis seriously when it comes to communications services. The HEROES Act recognizes that better and more affordable broadband connections are essential during this health crisis and the long period of economic recovery. Millions of people across the country couldn’t afford to get online before the pandemic hit. Over the last two months, millions have lost their jobs in record numbers and may now be unable to pay for essential services like internet access. COVID-19 is hitting poor people and communities of color the hardest — communities that are already disproportionately stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide. We need to bridge that divide now — when staying home, staying informed and staying connected is a matter of literal survival. To do that, we need the kind of funding offered by the HEROES Act. The bill would get people connected to the networks they have available to them today, not merely look ahead to funding broadband deployment in rural areas sometime in the distant future. The HEROES Act builds on the Federal Communications Commission’s successful Lifeline program, but offers a more significant $50-per-month benefit to an even larger range of people in need right now. That should allow millions more people to afford internet connections at home, serving the whole family during these difficult times rather than keeping them exclusively dependent on less robust mobile connections. The HEROES Act also prohibits internet service providers and phone companies from disconnecting people and small businesses that can’t pay their bills during the crisis — vastly improving on the voluntary pledge put forth by the FCC, which implored these corporations to make similar promises but had no real ability to ensure those pledges were kept. The HEROES Act also includes the COVID–19 Compassion and Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice bill, which would set price caps on phone calls and other communications to and from prisons and jails, and bar exploitative practices providers of these services so frequently engage in. While this kind of legislation was sorely needed before the pandemic, the suspension of visitations and the rapid spread of the virus in prisons, jails and detention facilities has made the status quo untenable. People who are incarcerated and their families must have access to communications services at just and reasonable rates. This bill would give the FCC the authority to take action. The United States has seen massive job losses and spectacularly high unemployment rates. Despite what Congress, the FCC and ISPs have already done, the country needs federal spending to replace lost incomes and keep society functioning. The need to get and keep everyone connected to the internet isn’t up for debate, but we must act quickly to ensure that kids can continue to learn, seniors can move their routine doctors’ office visits online, and as many workers as possible can continue to do their jobs remotely. The HEROES Act is an important step in that direction.”

Leo Fitzpatrick, Policy Counsel at Free Press Action: “Today, House Democratic leadership introduced the next installment of COVID-19 relief legislation containing desperately needed connectivity assistance for millions struggling under the pandemic and its economic impact. Among its many provisions, the Act authorizes billions of dollars for emergency broadband benefits programs, which include providing up to $50 per household for broadband to Lifeline subscribers and those who lost income or their jobs due to the pandemic. It also remedies the FCC’s striking lack of authority to ensure just and reasonable rates for all calls between incarcerated people and their families, made all the more necessary in the current pandemic. Originally introduced by Representative Rush as a standalone bill, the incorporation of this phone justice bill in this larger package recognizes what we have known all along: Exploitative profiteering off incarcerated people and their families as they struggle to stay connected is unjustified and cruel, but even more starkly unacceptable during a pandemic when jail and prison populations have stopped in-person visitations.”

Steven Renderos, Executive Director of MediaJustice: “The stimulus package finally addresses our right to communicate and we urge Congress to urgently pass this relief bill so millions of families can access the phone and internet services they need to navigate this pandemic effectively. Now that 30 million people have filed for unemployment, the lack of access long felt by lower-income communities is now facing the entire country. The government must ensure that all Americans remain connected to the essential services, information, and communications they deserve, for the length of the pandemic and beyond. While a welcome step, we must recognize that this bill only provides temporary relief, falling far short of meeting the deep needs that existed long before the pandemic, and are even greater in its wake. The need to see a doctor through telemedicine or speak to an incarcerated loved one isn’t temporary, and support for that shouldn’t be either. As long as cost remains a barrier to communication, a lack of access will determine who lives, works, and learns. With prison phone call rates now affordably capped, states must step up to cover the cost of those calls so families with incarcerated loved ones can stay connected with their loved ones for free. We urge the House and Senate to swiftly pass this stimulus bill, and to provide funding to ensure the long-term expansion of Lifeline and affordable prison phone calls to keep all Americans connected, regardless of ability to pay.” 

Cheryl Leanza from the United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc. (UCC OC): “The right to connect with each other during the novel coronavirus pandemic is not only a matter of mental health and economic realities, it is a matter of life and death.  If all people, including low-income people, can afford high quality broadband, their lives can continue, to some degree, through personal connections, education, jobs, obtaining access to emergency benefits while they shelter in place to stop the spread of the virus.  Frontline low-income workers can use their mobile phones as they can keep our food shelves stocked, our hospitals clean and our emergency response ready to respond at need.  If families can reach their incarcerated loved ones at fair rates, they can monitor their health and welfare and ensure they receive access to essential care given the horrific spread of COVID-19 among people in jail, prison or detention.  The proposals set forth today in the CARES II draft are essential for meeting these emergency needs.  We strongly urge Congress to quickly pass this proposal into law.”

Eric Null, US Policy Manager at Access Now: "House leaders understand that people need access to high-speed internet to survive. Unfortunately, even several months into the pandemic, Congress has not passed meaningful connectivity protections. Passing the HEROES Act would help close the digital divide and connect those who’ve experienced financial distress, including the 33 million filing for unemployment. Without an internet connection, it’s nearly impossible to get trained, find jobs or work from home, communicate with family, home school children, and seek telehealth services. It’s time for the Senate to step up and follow suit.”

NCTA - The Internet & Television Association: "As America continues to adapt to changes in our daily lives resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, the cable industry is redoubling its efforts to partner with schools and families in ways that support remote learning while classrooms remain closed. While the calendar moves us closer to upcoming graduations and the arrival of summer, we know that many challenges remain for schools in the coming months as they work diligently to prepare for the fall and a new school year. For that reason, we appreciate the efforts of Senator Markey and others to consider new tech-neutral ways of assisting schools during the pandemic, as we all work collectively to help teachers and students stay connected and ready to learn regardless of whether instruction occurs at school or at home.”

Christina Mason, VP of Government Affairs for Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA): "WISPA appreciates the scope of the HEROES Act, especially as it pertains to keeping families hit hardest by the pandemic online, connected and safe. We signed the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected pledge, as well as its extension, and the support noted in the Act will go far to ensure all Americans remain connected through the duration of the pandemic."