Led by Tri-Caucus Chairs, 101 Members of Congress Urge Leadership to Replenish Affordable Connectivity Program’s Funding

As Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we write urging you to include $6 billion needed to replenish the highly popular and effective Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in any government funding package, as requested by President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 emergency supplemental funding proposal. Established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the ACP is a true bipartisan public policy success story. At current enrollment rates, ACP is expected to run out of funds as soon as Spring of 2024, cutting off this critical support for millions of students, rural families, low-income households, elderly citizens, and other users. Given today’s economy with so many jobs, services, resources, and cultural opportunities only available online, that should be unthinkable. The impact of ACP exhaustion would be especially severe in communities of color where internet access and adoption still lag.1 Access to affordable and reliable internet is essential for full participation in today’s 21st century economy. Lack of affordable high-speed internet will put these communities further behind.