FOR ELLIMAE KALINOSKI AND HER FAMILY, THE internet is a lifeline. She and her husband, who cannot work because of long COVID, get discounted web access through the Affordable Connectivity Program, which they also use to homeschool their autistic son.
Now funding for the ACP is set to run out, the parents are worried they soon won’t be able to afford broadband access.
“It’s incredibly needed,” Kalinoski told Newsweek. “[The ACP] allowed us to continue to homeschool our autistic son—who absolutely needs to be homeschooled—and we are able to keep in touch with family and friends ... because we can use FaceTime without spending extra money on our phone plan.”
She worries “not just for us, but for many, many people like us that need that extra income for food or health or supplies.”
Internet service fees are set to rise for 23 million American households after the Biden administration’s request for continued funding of the ACP fell on deaf ears in Congress.
