Congressional Dems Urge Carr to Pull E-rate Expansion Rollback From FCC's Tuesday Agenda
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and dozens of other congressional Democrats spoke Monday against FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s proposals to undo the commission's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and another to fund Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2509030064). The commission is likely to approve the orders’ rescission during its Tuesday meeting along party lines over E-rate advocates’ misgivings (see 2509260046).
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“Rolling back the E-Rate hotspot and school bus decisions would undercut some of the most effective tools for addressing inequities in home connectivity and would reverse progress in closing the ‘Homework Gap,’” the Democrats said in a letter to Carr. “For millions of students, especially those from low-income households, internet access outside of school walls is not a luxury but a prerequisite for academic success. We urge the Commission to preserve the E-Rate hotspot program and Wi-Fi on buses to ensure that low-income students are not left behind.” The Democrats faulted Carr for last week “abruptly” adding his proposed rollback of the orders to the Tuesday meeting agenda and urged him to “remove these items from the meeting agenda and follow standard Commission protocol at a future open meeting.”