The Affordable Connectivity Program: Time Is of the Essence for Congress to Act

Author: 
Coverage Type: 

Congress should extend the worthwhile Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) promptly by appropriating additional funding. At the same time, it can consider revising the program to better target the ACP benefit to those lower-income households most truly in need and adopting measures to minimize, to the extent possible, any waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. The ACP represents one-half of the federal government's push to make it possible for every American to access a high-speed Internet connection. The other side of the equation, of course, is the many – potentially too many – programs making massive amounts of money available for the construction of broadband infrastructure, specifically in those limited areas that remain unserved despite the trillions in private investment that have brought broadband to the vast majority of households. The ACP incorporates features that recommend it over other affordability approaches. One, it promotes the efficient use of taxpayer dollars by empowering recipients to exercise relatively unfettered choice in the competitive marketplace for broadband service. And two, it promotes political accountability because it is funded by a direct congressional appropriation, unlike Universal Service Fund (USF) programs, such as Lifeline, that unsustainably rely upon an anachronistic regressive tax that targets an arbitrary subset of communications services. Accordingly, it's worth repeating my call for Congress to act without further delay to extend and revise the ACP. Specifically, lawmakers should pass legislation that provides another one-time appropriation, sufficient to expand the ACP's lifespan over several years.


The Affordable Connectivity Program: Time Is of the Essence for Congress to Act