As a federal program that offsets internet costs to families in need has expired, Congress is seeking both short- and long-term solutions.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, signed onto a bill to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program on Wednesday, months after its introduction and as the program expired. The timing prompted a rebuke from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
But Kiggans appears to have sought other approaches to resolving the matter. On Wednesday, she shared a copy of an April 17 letter she and others sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraging work on the issue.
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Lauryn Fanguen, a spokeswoman for the DCCC, asserted that Kiggans belatedly signed onto the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024 after Democrats criticized Kiggans in a news release a day earlier for “refusing to lift a finger” to help constituents on the matter.
“She clearly only did this in response to (Democrats) attacking her on the issue,” she said.
Kiggans said she joined the bill as a co-sponsor because she has heard from constituents who have stressed concern about losing the benefit after finding out their internet bills would go up.
“They even would say, ‘you know, it said here on my bill for my service provider to contact my congressman,’” Kiggans said. “So we listened to those types of things. We looked into it a little more and saw that there was legislation that we could co-sponsor.”
Kiggans is seeking a second term in a district based in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk that has more turnover than any other Virginia congressional seat. Since 2000, the district has had eight different representatives — three Democrats and five Republicans. Missy Cotter Smasal and Jake Denton are seeking the Democratic nomination in this year’s contest.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, called the district “the most unstable employment you can have as a politician.”
First created in 2021 and handled by the Federal Communications Commission, the Affordable Connectivity Program has enabled groups, including low-income households, to apply for discounts of up to $30 a month for internet service and up to $75 a month for households on tribal lands. The program also included a one-time $100 discount to help offset the purchase of laptops or tablets.
An estimated 16% of the households in Kiggans’ district, or roughly 46,000, have benefited from the program. Kiggans is the only Republican in Virginia’s congressional delegation to have joined the extension bill. The district of Rep. Ben Cline, R-6th, slightly trails Kiggans’ in tapping into the program.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has endorsed Smasal in her challenge to Kiggans.
Kiggans said she hopes the extension act can sail through the House and Senate chambers to end up on President Joe Biden’s desk before the end of the year. Twenty-four of its 230 co-sponsors are Republicans.
She added that the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted how important broadband connectivity is to the workforce, health care and education.
“We want to make sure that we’re not only focusing on things like broadband and increasing access there, but making sure people can afford it,” she said.