BY TIM MAREMA
DAILY YONDER
Nearly a third of Martin County households may have to pay more for internet access by the end of April because a federal program that supports affordable broadband for lower-income families is running out of money.
Over 1,100 of Martin County’s 3,800 households are currently receiving $30 a month from the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), according to data from the Federal Communications Commission.
If the program lapses, Martin County would be among the hardest hit in Kentucky, according to a Daily Yonder analysis. About 30% of all households in the county are enrolled in the connectivity program. Statewide 25% of all households participate in ACP.
The ACP was established as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and was designed to help families improve broadband access at a time when school, work, health care and other services were increasingly moving online.
The FCC has announced that it will run out of funding for the program by the end of April because the legislation contained only a one-time appropriation. The agency stopped accepting new applications for the program in February.
Anna M. Gomez, the most recently appointed member of the Federal Communications Commission, said 23 million households in the United States will lose the benefit if the program lapses.
“Millions of households will be forced to make tough decisions on whether to pay for connectivity they need for work, school or health care – or to put food on the table,” Gomez said in a video statement.
A bill to approve an additional $7 billion for ACP has been filed in the House and Senate. No Kentucky legislators are among the bipartisan group of 28 representatives and three senators who have co-sponsored the legislation.
To be eligible for the ACP, families must earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level or participate in other programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid.
The current federal poverty threshold is $31,200 for a family of four, so families of four earning under $62,400 annually were eligible for the program until the FCC stopped accepting new applications.
About 40% of Martin County’s estimated 2,793 eligible households have signed up for ACP.
Sarah Melotte and Will Wright contributed reporting to this article. DailyYonder.com is an online news platform based in Whitesburg that provides national rural news, analysis and commentary.