AARP Backs Bill to Extend Funding for Internet Discounts

Millions of older Americans receive federally funded discounts for high-speed internet, and AARP wants to ensure that support continues. We wrote to congressional lawmakers in favor of the Affordable Connectivity Extension Act of 2024. This new legislation would provide $7 billion in funding to ensure the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides high-speed internet discounts, will continue past April. That’s when the project’s funding is predicted to run out. The program has helped more than 22 million lower-income households afford high-speed internet. Congress approved the ACP in 2021 as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. “Everyone should have access to affordable, high-speed internet,” wrote Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs, in January 9 letters to the bill’s House and Senate sponsors.