COLUMBUS, Ohio — A critical connection for more than a million low-income Ohioans could be cut this spring, if Congress doesn't act. Ohio Republican U.S. Senator JD Vance's office says the popular Affordable Connectivity Program is projected to run out of money in April.
The program provides monthly broadband internet service discounts for more than 22 million American households that qualify. That includes 1.1 million households in Ohio, which equates to 23% of households in the state.
The Federal Communications Commission says the discount is up to $30 per month for most enrollees and $75 per month for those living on tribal lands.
According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, if the funding for the discount runs out, many of those people won't be able to afford to keep their internet service.
Senator Vance and Vermont Senator, Democrat Peter Welch, introduced the bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act on Jan. 10. It would provide $7 billion to continue the monthly discounts for high-speed internet administered by the FCC.
"We must ensure low-income families all across Ohio, from our bustling cities to the most rural parts of Appalachia, aren't cut off from the online banking, schooling, and connectivity services they need," Senator Vance said.
Ohio's Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown agrees the program is critical.
"Think about what it means," Brown said. "It means you can do doctor appointments, and if you don't have it, you can't. It means starting a business in many cases, if you have high speed internet. It means school, kids that are in middle school, high school that need it. So, it makes total sense to extend that."
He is hopeful it will pass.
"We know it works," Brown said. "We know it's mattered for affordability of high-speed internet, and we'll continue to fight for it. I don't know its future. You never really know, but we've got to work on it until we get it."
The FCC says households earning up to 200% of federal poverty guidelines qualify for the ACP discount. For a single person that is $29,160 per year. A family of four can have an income up to $60,000.
People can also qualify if they or a dependent use government programs including Medicaid, Snap, WIC and several others. Senator Vance's office says Ohio has the second highest household enrollment rate in the program in the country.
Click here for more information on qualifications and to apply for the program discount.
The federal government's Affordable Connectivity website says the program will stop taking new applications at 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 7. There's no word whether or not that could change if Congress passes legislation to extend the program.