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Three state representatives in Pennsylvania have introduced legislation that would mirror the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on a state level.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

A proposed bill in Pennsylvania, H.B. 2195, would give eligible households a $30 monthly subsidy for internet if approved by lawmakers.

Reps. Lindsay Powell, Aerion Abney, and Roni Green introduced the legislation last month, which aims to help low-income households and households with at least one child aged 5-18 years old pay for internet.

The bill, formally known as An Act establishing the Affordable Broadband Internet Access Service Program and the Affordable Broadband Internet Access Service Fund, is listed as currently being considered by the state’s Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities committee, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s website.

Rep. Lindsay Powell, who represents part of Pittsburgh, wrote in support of the bill in a recent May 9 op-ed published in the Northside Chronicle, a community newspaper that covers Pittsburgh’s Northside neighborhoods.

“The fact is, we live in a world where access to affordable broadband Internet is a critical component to setting our economy on a path toward innovation and resilient growth,” Powell wrote. “More importantly, broadband allows more of our neighbors to be connected to their families and friends, which has become even more essential in our increasingly isolated world.”

Powell, the bill’s prime sponsor, also cited data from a 2022 Department of Community and Economic Development which reported that a quarter of Latino households in Pennsylvania, and 35 percent of black households in the state do not have access to broadband.

According to Powell, over 739,000 households in Pennsylvania relied on the ACP to help pay for broadband.

Nearly 23 million households nationwide relied on the ACP program to help pay for internet, which provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands, according to the FCC.

Households were eligible for the ACP if their income was at or below 200 percent of poverty guidelines set by the government.

In April, the FCC indicated that the maximum benefit providers should expect to receive in May is $14 per ACP customer, or $35 per qualifying Tribal customer, before funding for the program expires at the end of the month. The FCC stopped accepting new ACP enrollments in February.

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