The Broadband Expansion Act of 2022 passed the Budget and Domestic Affairs Committee on Monday with a unanimous vote of 15-0.
The bill addresses the digital divide, the social inequalities that result from insufficient broadband access. Broadband is the high speed reliable internet required to do things like stream movies and television, participate in video conferences, and use social media. Broadband costs an average of $68 per month, which is not affordable for many households.
According to ACLU research, “People living without broadband access — who are disproportionately non-white people, low income, or rural — do not have access to equal opportunities in education, employment, banking, and other important components of connection and social mobility” (Marhsall & Ruane, 2022).
Families without access to broadband are feeling the effects even more lately. Since the pandemic began, many workplaces and schools have moved more online, requiring employees and students to have broadband. Senator Capito, who passionately testified for the Broadband Expansion Act in the Budget Committee, explained that 26,000 of her constituents lack broadband access and are affected by the digital divide. “It’s a problem that’s at the heart of West Virginia,” she says.
` The Act builds on the existing Emergency Broadband Connectivity Program, which was created during Covid to give internet access to low income communities. The Affordable Connectivity Program was established as a permanent version of this program, and Capito’s bill intends to allocate more funding to this program. Increased funding goes towards “making the maps that determine which areas lack internet access more comprehensive so we can target the right areas,” says Capito. A recent amendment proposed in the Budget Committee by Senator Murkowski allocates additional funding to give people a chance to apply for the program who would otherwise be unable to because of natural or environmental factors. Capito explains that a second amendment to the bill creates “a grant and loan program within the bill that will help specifically allocate funding to rural telecommunications and broadband” to address the 22.3% of rural Americans who don’t have access to high speed internet.
The bill was co-signed by Senators Murkowski, Graham, and Collins. Collins explains, “[the bill] is pretty bipartisan and everyone in the committee supports extending broadband and Wifi and internet to rural communities.” The bill should reach the Senate floor in the next few weeks.
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