Biden Administration, Democratic Senators: Fund the Affordable Connectivity Program

As the clock ticks steadily toward the moment in early 2024 when the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) runs out of money, the Biden White House and a group of 32 Democratic Senators recently added their voices to the bipartisan chorus calling for additional funding.

Created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the ACP provides a monthly subsidy – up to $75 on qualifying Tribal lands and in certain high-cost areas, $30 elsewhere – that eligible lower-income households can apply toward a high-speed Internet access subscription. It also makes available up to $100 for the purchase of a connected device.

At the end of August, more than 20 million households had signed up for the ACP. Consequently, it is expected that the $14.2 billion initially appropriated will have been spent by some point early next year.

In an August 2023 post to the FSF Blog, I highlighted calls, from both sides of the aisle, for Congress to appropriate additional money to the ACP. I also noted that Free State Foundation President Randolph May, on multiple occasions, has urged Congress to extend the ACP – but also to "revise the program's eligibility requirements to target its limited resources to those most in need."

More recently, panelists at a Broadband Breakfast online event on October 11, 2023, spoke of the ACP's importance – one, Debra Lathen, President, Lathen Consulting LLC, described it as "critical" to the success of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

In addition, 32 Democratic Senators, led by Jacky Rosen (NV), wrote in a letter to congressional leaders dated October 19, 2023, that, "as you finalize a government appropriations package, we urge you to include full funding for the ACP as well as a long-term solution that provides a sustainable, responsible funding stream, so that millions of Americans don't lose access to critical connectivity services."

And in an October 20, 2023, letter to House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, Shalanda D. Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, highlighted the importance of additional funding to "avoid the risk that millions of Americans lose access to affordable high-speed internet."

According to Communications Daily (subscription required), the White House is "is expected to seek about $4 billion in additional money for the [ACP] as part of a second part of the supplemental federal funding request it will send to Congress this week."