D.C. Memo: JD Vance Pushed Hard to Fund the ACP
◾ Blair Levin's Call: FCC's Digital Discrimination Rules Lose in Court ◾ Roger Entner: Many Did Not Enroll Because They Had Not Heard of ACP ◾ Fifth Circuit Zeros in on FCC Wi-Fi School Bus Rules
JD/ACP: Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate on the GOP ticket announced Monday, was a leader among Senate Republicans in seeking billions more for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) as the Internet subsidy program was in financial free fall earlier this year. On the Senate floor in May, Vance was blunt, suggesting the ACP should have the same priority as the military budget for foreign wars. “I know this is a controversial comment with some of my colleagues, but if we can afford to fund military conflicts the world over, can’t we afford to provide basic connectivity and services for our own people?" he said. Starting in January, Vance joined a bicameral, bipartisan coalition on Capitol Hill to inject new money into the ACP. Created in 2021, the ACP was given $14.3 billion by Congress to provide $30 monthly discounts on the Internet bills of eligible low-income households. Last November, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the ACP would run out of full funding in April. The program finally ran out of all money on May 31, taking away the $30 discount from about 23 million households. Vance tried to prevent that with the introduction of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, along with Sens. Peter Welch D-Vt., Jacky Rosen D-Nev., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. On the House side, bill sponsors included Reps Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y. and Brian Fitzpatrick R-Penn. The extension bill called for providing the ACP with $7 billion in new money – enough to keep the program afloat during the balance of 2024 as lawmakers debated whether to fold the ACP into the FCC's Universal Service Fund program, which is industry-funded and does not rely on congressional appropriations like the ACP.
The ACP extension bill never had a chance in the House, reportedly because Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to bring it up for a vote. Vance was concerned about the demise of the ACP because 1.1 million Ohio households had enrolled - 23% of all households in the Buckeye State. "This is exactly the type of program my family would have benefited from if I was growing up in Ohio today," Vance said in a Jan. 10 press release. "We must ensure low-income families all across Ohio, from our bustling cities to the most rural parts of Appalachia, aren’t cut off from the online banking, schooling, and connectivity services they need.” The bill created an unusual coalition that included labor organizations, public interest groups and many industry participants, including: Comcast, AT&T, Charter, US Telecom, NTCA - the Rural Broadband Association, INCOMPAS, WTA (Advocates for Rural Broadband), the Wireless Infrastructure Association, the Fiber Broadband Association, and NCTA – The Internet & Television Association.