ACP, excluded from House spending package, creeps closer to death

The House of Representatives unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending package on March 21 that, if passed, will keep the government from shutting down this weekend. What it won't do, however, is fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) before it ends in May 2024. With April set as the ACP's final month of full funding, advocates had hoped to see Congress fund the program in must-pass spending legislation. In addition to the ACP, another top priority for the telecom industry is getting more funding for the Secure Networks Program, also known as rip-and-replace. Network operators have been sounding the alarm that the funding allotted for that 2020 program is less than 40 percent of what's needed to cover the costs of ripping out and replacing Chinese-made telecommunications equipment. President Biden had initially requested $6 billion for ACP, and $3 billion for rip-and-replace in his FY 2024 budget released last October. In a letter last week, a group of Democratic and Independent Senators also urged Congressional leadership to fund both programs in must-pass legislation.