President Joe Biden recently traveled to North Carolina to promote his goal of affordable internet access for all Americans, but the promise for 23 million families across the U.S. is on shaky ground.
That’s because a subsidy that helps people with limited resources afford internet access is set to expire this spring.
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides $30 a month for qualifying families in most places and $75 on tribal lands, will run out of money by the end of April if Congress doesn’t extend it further.
“I think this should be high priority for Congress,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has worked with a bipartisan group of governors to promote the program, said in a phone interview. “To many families, $30 a month is a big deal.”
He may have a record of being able to negotiate with Republicans in the past, but now he’s dealing with a bunch of stubborn babies, which I don’t know if Biden is cut out for it.