BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont Senator Peter Welch made a stop in Burlington Friday to discuss a $7 billion bill in Congress aimed at making high-speed internet more affordable for low-income families across the country. It comes as the existing FCC-administered program is projected to run out of funding by spring.
Senator Welch says that access to high-speed internet is a necessity in today’s world, which is why he joined with state officials Friday to discuss new legislation that he says will keep more than 25,000 Vermont households.
“We had an individual, she lives at home and raises her grandson. For them, the ACP made the difference,” said Christa Shute with NEK Broadband.
The ACP, or Affordable Connectivity Program, has helped provide high-speed broadband to low-income people across the country and to an estimated 9% of Vermont households. But Welch says the federal money is drying up and introduced bipartisan legislation that would funnel $7 billion into the program
“I have two conservative Republican co-sponsors — J.D. Vance from Ohio, and Kevin Cramer from South Dakota. What they and I have in common is that we know that the people we represent in the rural parts of our state really need this, really benefit by it. So, we are on the same page,” Welch said.
Shute says low-income customers in her service area need the program to survive. “Losing that $30 a month can make a difference between the amount of food that gets put on the table, the amount of heat that goes into their homes. If the extension act is not passed in time, it’s going to be critical to help those Vermonters that are in that situation,” she said.
One in 11 Vermonters qualify for the program, including many new Americans. Virginie Diambou with the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity says they fear many of their BIPOC households will be cut off without additional funding. “Community members have come from different countries — refugees and immigrants — and some of them have never had access to internet from the countries they came from. So, it is really important to have access,” Diambou said.
If the funding cannot be extended, those various broadband organizations could be on the hook to come up with a backup plan to cover the costs.