Can Congress Save the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal? An analysis with the Federal Communications Commission and a case study of the bipartisan subsidy for internet service users
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal was a piece of legislation passed by the US Congress. It was a massive, ambitious piece of legislation that aimed to shore up a variety of floundering industries, including transit networks, energy systems, and public utilities. The ACP was part of that deal. Low-income households could be aided in paying for high-speed internet, if $14.2 billion set aside is used to fund credits. If a family’s household income was below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline per year, they were eligible for a $30 monthly credit on their broadband bill. People living on tribal lands could get up to $75.
Funding is the problem. There is a limit on how long a program can go on without Congress renewing it. The Biden administration has made several pleas to lawmakers to save the program, including one last October requesting a $6 billion investment to continue the program, among other domestic spending. Despite that and a number of pleas from advocacy groups and organizations like the Federal Communications Commission, nothing came of these attempts, and the program has officially lapsed.
According to the White House, more than 23 million households have taken advantage of the program since it went into effect. That’s a staggering number—roughly one in six households—who now have to find another way to scrape together the funds to stay connected.
If you’re affected, your internet provider should have already sent you two notifications about your service. If that is not the case you should contact your provider. Ultimately, affected users will have to decide whether to continue their service at the new price. There is an information page of the FCC that encourages filing complaints.
“I haven’t told her yet that the subsidy is ending, because I’m just going to start paying the additional fee for her internet service, and she would insist that I don’t do that,” Wright says. “She wants to feel like she’s independent. I need to be able to have support for her wherever I am.
A Conversation with Perez on the Status of the Avenues of Progress and the New York City Homeless Crisis: A New Look at the State of the Union Address
Millions of people like Perez rely on the ACP who are left waiting to see how long they can stay online. Perez lived in a Brooklyn apartment for four years after he left New York City. He subsists on housing vouchers, public assistance, and the advocacy work he does for the homeless community in New York. In March of this year, Perez attended the State of the Union Address.
