Mariluz Garcia sees the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP) every month.
Garcia, a Washoe County commissioner who represents a working-class district that includes downtown Reno, said federal initiatives to reduce or even eliminate internet fees for some low-income families have helped her constituents do everything from look for work online. Increase their use of the Internet. Telemedicine services.
“This is huge for these families because many of them are seniors on fixed incomes and many of them are working-class families with children,” she said. “It’s clear how important this program is to people.”
In Nevada, more than 276,000 families are enrolled in ACP plans—about a quarter of the state. As of early February, residents had cumulatively saved more than $136 million on their internet bills, and by the end of 2023, Clark County had more residents subscribing than all but 11 counties in the country.
But now, those numerical gains are threatened by a familiar obstacle: Congressional inaction. Funding for the ACP is expected to run out in May, leading the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin phasing out the program; it stopped accepting new applications in early February. Hundreds of thousands of Nevadans could see increased internet bills or reduced service if Congress doesn’t act to renew funding for the program.
“Unfortunately, as this program ends, my constituents have to face difficult decisions about what to cut because they cannot afford the increased cost of living,” said Garcia, a Democrat.
The program, created in 2021 under the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, provides qualifying low-income households with up to $30 in monthly internet bill relief, with some bills reduced to $0. On tribal lands, the benefit can be up to $75 per month. The FCC sends the funds directly to Internet service providers.
Families are also eligible to receive a one-time $100 rebate on a computer or tablet through participating providers, as long as the family still contributes $10 to $50 towards the cost of the device.
Eligible households are either at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($31,200 for a family of four in 2024) or receive assistance from government assistance programs such as SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, SSI, free or reduced-price school lunches or Pell Program grant.
In Nevada, use is particularly prominent in urban areas of the state. In some zip codes, such as 89101 in East Las Vegas and 89512 in Reno, 100 percent of eligible households are enrolled.
Brian Mitchell, director of Nevada’s Office of Broadband, said he’s heard from participants that ACP allows them to do everything from work from home to watch Netflix shows.
Mitchell worries about what will happen if the funds expire.
“For people on fixed incomes, when they have to choose between putting food on the table, paying rent, or paying $30 a month for the internet, people [said they] They just don’t have enough room in their budget to do that,” he said.
Digital Equity Strategy
Both the Biden administration and the state of Nevada are pursuing massive broadband expansion in hopes of achieving digital equity — expanding access while providing affordability.
This access component has received significant investment from the federal government. The state will receive $416 million to build broadband infrastructure, and hundreds of millions more for network construction and upgrades through the American Rescue Plan and other recent federal spending programs.
But there’s little point in connecting the state if Nevadans can’t afford internet. ACP is a major factor in the state’s affordability planning—it’s mentioned 47 times in the state’s 2023 Digital Equity Plan.
“If we build a lot of infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas and then people can’t afford the service, or providers have to set rates so low that they can’t afford to maintain the network, that’s a lot of infrastructure,” Mitchell said. : “The impact of construction will be less than what it would have been. “
congressional prospects
ACP is widely popular among members of both parties — a bipartisan coalition of 26 governors, including Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), sent a letter to congressional leaders last November urging them to provide additional funding.
The Biden administration has also called on Congress to refund the program, and think tanks and local officials have been warning about how the end of the ACP would undermine recent progress on digital equity.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill has the support of five Nevada congressional Democrats. Rep. Mark Amodai (R-NV) voted against it.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee and helped draft the broadband portion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, has been an ACP advocate and participated in Assemblyman Peter Welch (D-Welch) co-sponsored a bill. VT) provides $7 billion in new ACP funding. It has two Republican co-sponsors, a promising sign of its potential.
Historically, leaving potential renewals to the last minute has been Congress’s modus operandi, with looming deadlines often the only thing that can motivate lawmakers.
“I’m actually hoping that sometime in April, when the funding officially dries up, that funding will be included in some must-pass bill and that funding will be extended to the end of the calendar year or beyond,” Mitchell said. “
Even so, the bipartisan desire to see the ACP extended clashes with a historically inactive Congress that will become even more paralyzed in this election year.
Regardless, Garcia said she worries Nevadans may not know the program is in jeopardy. In meetings with Nevada’s federal representatives, they encouraged concerned residents to contact their offices, which could help win support in Congress, she said.
Customers who lose ACP benefits may be eligible for another FCC program: Lifeline. Nevada households with incomes below 135% of the federal poverty level or who are participants in federal assistance programs such as SNAP are eligible for this benefit, which is less than the amount provided by the ACP. Lifeline beneficiaries can receive up to $9.25 off their monthly internet bills; that price will increase to $34.25 for customers on tribal lands.
The FCC currently requires providers to send notices to ACP-funded customers that their benefits may be expiring and ask them if they would like to choose a new plan where they are responsible for paying so no one receives a surprise bill. Those who don’t opt in will see their service terminated.
Mitchell said based on his conversations with providers, he expects many will continue to offer customers ACP-level rates rather than lose them. But he acknowledged the state is unlikely to fill the $100 million gap if federal funding dries up.
“We will continue to work on this and adapt and figure out other strategies, but right now … there are no good options,” he said.