Lawmakers split over future of short-term internet subsidy funding bill

A bill that would fund a key internet subsidy program through the end of the year has gained support from both chambers and parties, but it still faces an uncertain path to passage—at least in the near future.

The Affordable Connectivity Program, which has provided funds to help subsidize internet access for as many as 23 million households since its 2021 inception, is set to run out of money by May if Congress doesn’t act. Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan, bicameral extension bill in January that would keep the program alive through 2024 while they work out details of how to fund it long term.

Speaking Tuesday at the INCOMPAS Policy Summit in Washington, DC, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan said it doesn’t have to be an either-or situation. The New Mexico Democrat said he’s part of a congressional working group that’s trying to connect the ACP to ongoing reforms of the long-standing Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes communications access and deployment through contributions from telecom companies.

“I believe good policy reforms and modernization [should help] secure more votes for immediate funding, because it shows our colleagues that may have some reluctance in providing that immediate support for ACP that we’re changing this program. We’re modernizing. We’re looking forward,” he said. “So there’s a policy component in addition to the funding.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar told Tech Brew she favors tying ACP funding to broader subsidy reforms, but the Minnesota Democrat suggested that Congress is currently occupied with avoiding a government shutdown.

“We’re hoping that somehow, if we pass a bill on universal service…we’re able to include it in that,” she said. “We need to get through these budget bills, and then we'll have more of an opportunity to move forward.”

However, Rep. Doris Matsui suggested that short-term ACP funding shouldn’t wait while Congress restructures the communications subsidy ecosystem, something lawmakers and advocates have been trying to do for years.

“I realize that we need to make it more sustainable, but at this moment in time, let's at least try to make sure the funding continues,” the California Democrat said in Tuesday remarks at the INCOMPAS event.

Other lawmakers seem to be reserving judgment until the package is further down the road. “Let’s see how it ends up moving forward, what the final version of that is going to be, and then we’ll have something to say,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, told Tech Brew.

In the meantime, Matsui said maintaining momentum in the conversion about ACP funding is a must.

“I think we’re going to make sure that this becomes louder and louder,” she said. “Sometimes, you have to have many, many voices.”