Snapshot: Affordable Connectivity Program

Broadband access for all has long been a critical issue for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. With the launch of the Center for Civil Rights and Technology in September 2023, these legacy civil rights organizations renewed their commitment and dedication to closing the digital divide—the persistent gap between people who have access to digital technology and those who do not. The startling connections among demographics, regions, and lack of access to broadband highlight the critical need to close this gap. Today, access to high quality, affordable internet is essential to attaining good-paying jobs, quality health care, education opportunities, and so many more critical goods and services. Despite broadband internet’s importance to everyday life, more than 24 million people lack access to quality broadband in the United States—especially people who live in rural areas, tribal lands, communities of color, and low-income neighborhoods.i Digital redlining, like housing redlining, has limited the quality and prevalence of broadband service in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.ii The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) filled this gap by providing low-income households up to $30-a-month toward broadband service (and up to $75-a-month for low-income households living on Tribal lands), which meant that families no longer needed to choose between internet access and other household essentials like groceries, rent, and utilities. The ACP was a monumental step in closing the digital divide, but the program’s lapse in funding in May 2024 and an increasingly uncertain political environment following the 2024 election threatens this progress. Although J.D. Vance has been a staunch supporter of the program while in the Senate, it is unclear what his approach will be as the incoming vice president. Additionally, incoming Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz has been an outspoken opponent of the program and is unlikely to support funding.