The ACP Program Needs Your Help to Stay Afloat
It’s the worst-kept secret in Washington, D.C., that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has bipartisan support across the country. The ACP program provides a monthly subsidy to offset the cost of high-speed internet to people living near the poverty line or enrolled in federal-aid programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
Our friends at the Open Technology Institute have compiled an entire library of support the program has from bipartisan groups of mayors, state lawmakers, federal lawmakers, public-interest groups, civil-rights organizations, labor unions … even ISPs.
The list goes on and on. The problem is, the ACP program will run out of funding by April unless lawmakers step in. In fact, the Federal Communications Commission, which administers the ACP, has had to put a freeze on new enrollees.
A rare display of bipartisanship
It’s exceedingly rare in D.C. for a program to have such a broad base of support. And anyone watching the goings on in our nation’s capital knows that doesn’t mean Congress will dedicate funding to keep families across the country connected. But the pressure is working! Since its introduction in January, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 has steadily gained a bipartisan list of cosponsors. Here’s that list as of Feb. 14, 2024:
Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D–Alaska)
Del. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R–American Samoa)
Rep. Judy Chu (D–California)
Rep. Young Kim (R–California)
Rep. Norma Torres (D–California)
Rep. Darren Soto (D–Florida)
Del. James Moylan (R–Guam)
Rep. Darin LaHood (R–Illinois)
Rep. Bradley Scott Schneider (D–Illinois)
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Michigan)
Rep. Angie Craig (D–Minnesota)
Rep. Don Bacon (R–Nebraska)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D–New Jersey)
Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D–New Mexico)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D–New York)
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R–New York)
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R–New York)
Rep. Nick LaLota (R–New York)
Rep. Michael Lawler (R–New York)
Rep. Grace Meng (D–New York)
Rep. Marcus Molinaro (R–New York)
Rep. Max Miller (R–Ohio)
Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R–Oregon)
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R–Pennsylvania)
Resident Commissioner Jennifer González-Colón (R–Puerto Rico)
Rep. James Clyburn (D–South Carolina)
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R–Texas)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D–Texas)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D–Washington)
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D–Nevada)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R–North Dakota)
Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio)
Sen. Welch (D–Vermont)
What you can do to keep people in the ACP program connected
That list is impressive, but there are some big names and states missing, most notably from Louisiana's congressional delegation. Louisiana has the highest percentage of households of any state enrolled in the ACP program, including 29 percent of the households in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s district.
Don’t see your congress members on the list above? Use our call tool to give them a ring and tell them you want them to support more funding for the ACP program.
Help Free Press Action keep fighting to save the ACP program: Donate today.
