Van Hollen, Markey, Meng Commend FCC’s Plan to Vote to Modernize E-Rate Program

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Representative Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced its plan to vote at its July meeting on rules to modernize the E-Rate program to allow schools and libraries to loan out Wi-Fi hotspots to students and educators.

"For students and educators, access to the internet at home is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for completing homework, communicating with classmates, and discovering the digital world wherever they are," said the lawmakers. "The FCC's proposal to modernize the E-Rate program is an important recognition of this new educational reality and will be a critical effort to keep millions of students connected to the internet at school, at home, or at the library. We applaud the FCC and Chairwoman Rosenworcel for taking up the proposal at the Commission's July meeting, and we urge all commissioners to support this common-sense and much-needed update to E-Rate."

In February, Senator Van Hollen, Senator Markey, and Congresswoman Meng led 64 of their colleagues in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supporting the Commission's proposal to expand the E-Rate program. The E-Rate program, established in 1996, has invested nearly $62 billion to connect schools and libraries to the internet across the country. Maryland schools and libraries have received nearly $670 million from the E-Rate program and another $145 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $7 billion program that Senators Van Hollen and Markey created within the American Rescue Plan to provide devices and connectivity for students and educators at home. Massachusetts has received more than $895 million from the E-Rate program and $97 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund.