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The 2021 infrastructure bill President Biden passed and signed into law provides funding for a program called the Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP).
Subsidized with taxpayer funds, multiple internet companies offer ACP as a discounted broadband benefit to more than 23 million households for work, school and other activities.
The legislation allocates $14.2 billion for the program, which allows eligible users to receive a $30 monthly discount on Internet service, with other households receiving discounts of up to $75 per month. But the billions spent on the program are about to run out, and the Biden administration is blaming Republicans if they don’t support renewing the program, which could result in higher internet bills for Floridians.
The media and Biden supporters have laid out their talking points.
“Tens of millions of Americans could see skyrocketing internet bills this spring,” the Biden White House said. Another Biden official said the end of the ACP program would have a negative impact on certain vulnerable groups, including seniors. CNN said that if ACP subscribers lose federal subsidies, “they will be forced to choose between paying for groceries and paying for internet service.”
However, some Republican lawmakers criticized the ACP program and its subsidies as wasteful spending.
Republicans pointed out that many people who received ACP discounts did not have broadband access before signing up. Biden officials admit they don’t know the exact number of people who will benefit from the administration’s programs. They claim that internet providers are not forced to collect this information when someone signs up for the program.
Another issue Republicans see as wasteful in the ACP is providing broadband subsidies to low-income households who already had internet access before the plan was created.