Will Congress Fund the ACP?

The clock is ticking on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Current estimates show the program may run out of funding as soon as the end of the first quarter in 2024. The only solution for keeping ACP operating is for Congress to refill the ACP funding bucket somehow. Angela Siefer of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance said that reauthorizing ACP was one of the biggest broadband issues on the plate for Congress. She talked about the many gains that have been made in getting broadband to low-income homes. The ACP was not created through a normal budget appropriations bill but was funded by $14.2 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). There was also rollover funding of $2.2 billion added from the previous Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program that had been funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. That was a one-time funding event, and that means specific legislation is needed to keep the program running. There has been talk of moving the responsibility of the ACP to the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF). But that would mean the agency would have to find a new way to pay for it. The current fees levied on long distance telecommunications are not nearly large enough to absorb the ACP obligations. Congress has already been considering ways to eliminate the FCC’s Lifeline fund, so the USF might not be a politically viable solution.