When the clock struck midnight on May 31, more than 23 million low-income households were dropped from a federal internet subsidy program that for years had helped them get connected.
The Affordable Connectivity Program was created in 2021, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, to help people plug into jobs, schools and health care by reducing their internet costs by up to $75 a month.
Helping connect households was particularly important in rural America, where telehealth services are often leaned on to fill health care gaps and address provider shortages.
But that aid evaporated last month when Congress didn’t move to keep it funded.
“Internet bills for millions of Americans are increasing because Congressional Republicans failed to act,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson emailed me.
Some lawmakers have argued that too much of the subsidy money went to people who don’t need it. Last month, Republicans and Democrats introduced proposals to address those concerns. The ACP debate continues, with a funding measure expected to be part of the Spectrum and National Security Act of 2024, under consideration Wednesday by the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The day before the subsidies expired, White House officials offered a consolation prize, announcing they had worked out a deal with 15 internet providers that agreed to keep offering low-cost plans. The announcement isn’t really new, though, nor as robust as a previous deal.
In 2022, the Biden administration announced that 20 companies would offer plans for $30 a month or less. AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are among the players continuing to sell low-cost plans the administration says will benefit an estimated 10 million households.
Of course, low-cost plans still come with bills consumers must pay. And without the connectivity program’s monthly assistance, 77 percent of households that benefited from it will have to change plans or drop their internet connections, Jessica Rosenworcel, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
“A consistent theme is that many ACP recipients are seniors on fixed incomes struggling to pay competing bills and make ends meet,” she wrote.
Those affected are people like Myrna Broncho, 69, a Shoshone-Bannock tribal member who talked with me at the Fort Hall Reservation in southeastern Idaho. She had qualified for a $75 subsidy, enough to eliminate her internet bill after she signed on last year.
Without the subsidy, she’ll have to “go back on my tight budget.” Retired and ranching, Broncho said she uses the internet for shopping, paying bills and keeping track of her health care.
Rosenworcel’s letter arguing for renewed funding for the ACP was sent to a handful of lawmakers, including Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who chairs the commerce committee, and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who has proposed greatly narrowing eligibility for the program.
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