Program’s expiration could raise costs or disrupt internet access for 1 in 5 Alabama households

Washington D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) called on Congress to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Created in 2021 by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the ACP has helped lower internet costs for more than 400,000 Alabama households. The program stopped accepting new enrollments today and without action from Congress, will end entirely in April 2024 due to insufficient funds. As a cosponsor of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, Rep. Sewell is fighting to keep the ACP alive and protect cost savings for Alabama families.

“Since we created the Affordable Connectivity Program in 2021, we have been able to successfully expand access to affordable, high-speed internet for more than 400,000 Alabama families,” said Rep. Sewell. “To let this program run out of funding would be disastrous and could mean higher internet costs for one in five Alabama households. That is simply unacceptable. The families that I hear from want us to lower their costs, not raise them. Congress needs to quickly pass the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act and send it to the President’s desk.”

For millions of Americans, the monthly cost of internet service prevents them from having a home internet connection. That’s why in 2021, Democrats in Congress created the ACP in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide a discount on monthly internet bills for low- and middle-income households. 23 million American families—including more than 400,000 in Alabama—are already utilizing the program to afford their internet service. If Congressional Republicans let the ACP expire, one in five Alabama households could experience higher internet costs or lose access to the internet altogether.

In October, Rep. Sewell and her New Democrat Coalition colleagues sent a letter to House Leadership urging support for President Biden’s request for additional ACP funding in supplemental appropriations. Rep. Sewell is also a cosponsor of H.R. 6929, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would provide $7 billion to extend the program.

For more information on the ACP, click here.