NAA and a Coalition of Organizations Letter to House Leadership Regarding the Passage of The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act of 2024
NAA and a coalition of organizations submitted a letter to House Leadership regarding the prioritization of H.R. 6929, The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act of 2024. The letter urges the House Leadership to pass this Act in order to keep 23 million households online and closing the digital divide.
February 9, 2024
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House
United States House of Representatives
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Kay Grange
Chair, House Appropriations Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Tom Emmer
Majority Whip
United States House of Representatives
U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member, House Appropriations
Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Speaker Johnson, Whip Emmer, Chair Granger, and Ranking Member DeLauro,
The undersigned FCC Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) grantees, members of the No Home Left Offline Coalition, and other organizations involved in ACP outreach and enrollment, write to you today to urge you to prioritize passage of HR 6929, The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act of 2024. Without additional funding, the ACP will terminate at the end of April 2024, and 23 million households may be forced offline. The funding in this bill would allow the program to continue through most of 2024 and will prevent millions of Americans from facing sudden, unexpected, and unaffordable increases in their home internet bills. This program must be allowed to continue while advocates and policymakers work towards a more permanent solution.
Today marks a significant moment in the ACP; the FCC is no longer accepting new enrollments to the program, and program enrollees have already received at least one notification that their benefits will end, creating confusion in the market. Soon, these 23 million enrolled households will see a spike in their internet bill and potentially lose service entirely. 2024 could be the first year in history that FEWER households are connected to the internet than in the previous year. This will occur just as states are preparing to make the biggest broadband investments in history.
Our organizations are committed to closing the digital divide and ensuring that all households have access to adequate and affordable broadband connections. Together, we have helped enroll beneficiaries across more than 30 states and have conducted hundreds of outreach and enrollment events. If Congress allows the ACP to expire, all of the progress made across the country may be lost. Further, this may cause distrust among enrollees; if the ACP, or similar broadband benefit, is created in the future, it may be significantly harder to reach these enrollees.
We look forward to working with Congress to achieve our shared goal of closing the digital divide and urge you to prioritize passing HR 6929, The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, before current funding lapses.
Sincerely,
#OaklandUndivided Access Telecom
Access Wireless
A Freeman Ins Co & Driving School
Alaska Literacy Program
Allentown Digital Inclusion Initiative
Andrena
Barn Quilt Association of Garrett County, Inc.
Bausy Books Consulting dba CFO For Women
Black Star Telecommunications & Fiber Services Inc
BNT marketing
Brooksville Maine Broadband Committee
CASA, Inc.
Catholic Charities Denver
Center for Changing Lives
City of Racine Wisconsin
Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community
Coastside Hope
Common Sense Media
Community Action Partnership Sonoma County
Community Action Partnership of Utah
Compudopt
Computers 4 People
ConnectLakeCounty
Council for Affordable and Rural Housing
Council of Community Services
CSC Consulting Group
Cumberland Plateau Regional Housing Authority
Cunningham Telephone Company, Inc.
Delaware County Community Partnership
Digital Durham, digital equity collaborative
Digital Harbor Foundation
Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston
Diversity Cyber Council
East Smithfield Public Library
Economic Action Maryland
EducationSuperHighway
El Raton Media Works
Excess Telecom
Excite Cooking Labs LLC
Garland County
Global Refuge
Gotham Food Pantry
Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance
Harrisonburg City Public Schools
Idealect
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Jonathan Rose Companies
Keystone Internet Coalition
Latinx Digital Leaders Now
LEARN - Lifelong Education and Aging Resource Network, Inc
Levine's Enterprises LLC
Lily of the Valley Emmanuel Church Of Jesus Christi
Lyons Communications
Macon Housing to Success Inc.
Maxsip
Moline Housing Authority
Montana Community Action Network
MSK Community Center
Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council
My Care Companions
Mycelia Foundation
National Apartment Association
National Association of Elementary School Principals
National Association of Housing Cooperatives
National Catholic Educational Association
National Church Residences
National Multifamily Housing Council
NEK Community Broadband
Nextlink Internet
Northeast Kingdom Community Action
Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation
NPower
Oak Hill Collaborative
Open Tech Institute
Prime Nation
Project Ready
Reading Public Library
Satview Broadband Ltd
ScaleLIT
SGC
Shoes For Kids
St.Clement Manor
Stevens County Library
Tech Connect
Technology Learning Collaborative
Texas Rural Funders
The Open Door/Wellspring House
Town of Ordway
United Palatine Coalition
United Way of Northern Utah
US Ignite
USU Extension
Villa Comunitaria
West Custer County Library District
Westerly Public Schools
WinstonNet
Word Empowerment Church
Xyro Excuses
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago