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Today more than 82,000 low-income Maine households have access to high-speed internet, essentially for free, thanks to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ leadership on the 2021 infrastructure bill. That’s because beginning with former President Donald Trump’s Emergency Broadband Benefit, Collins and other leaders helped create the Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers families at 200 percent of the poverty level a $30 per month voucher to apply to their high-speed internet bills. It’s no surprise the program been a huge success.
There’s just one problem — funding is set to expire next year unless Congress acts. Essentially kicking what could be 100,000 Mainers off of their broadband subscription would be a disaster. As a 35-year educator, I can tell you cutting off internet access would hamper Maine’s ability to prepare our kids for the future by stunting their education and making it harder to apply for jobs and learn new skills once they become adults.
On a statewide level, funding the Affordable Connectivity Program is critical — increased broadband access has been proven to strengthen the American economy and drive growth. Even more, as Maine decides how to spend up approximately $500 million for rural broadband expansion, making sure that rural households can actually afford to connect to newly installed infrastructure will be pivotal to making sure every Mainer truly gets access to high-speed internet. A recent Boston Consulting Group study found that the Affordable Connectivity Program reduced the subsidy needed to build in rural areas by 25 percent.
I hope Collins continues to demonstrate leadership on high-speed internet affordability and that our entire delegation works to fund this critical program.
Rep. David Woodsome
Waterboro
