Local opinion: How do you exist in society without the internet?

I live in a rural town on a fixed income with my daughter and granddaughter. As I spend my days in retirement, I’m proud to focus my work on supporting my granddaughter and helping her unlock opportunity through the power of education. Every day, I help my 12-year-old granddaughter with her homework that she completes on her tablet. Her tablet requires Internet connection, which I’m able to provide because of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The ACP gives over 20 million Americans, just like my family, a discount on their monthly Internet bill. I once heard an expression that a lot of money is whatever you pick up off the ground — a $30 discount every month is a lot of money. But this discount on Internet access will change in April when the ACP is set to expire, unless we take action.

How can you survive in today’s America without the Internet? We need it to get information, to communicate with family like my brother all the way in Alaska, for my daughter to apply for jobs, for my granddaughter to do her schoolwork — we need it for everything. To me, the Internet is now a basic need in the United States.

I’ve been working since I was 14 years old and I feel strongly about teaching my granddaughter the importance of a good work ethic. But today’s world is hard when our kids don’t have the same access. The ACP helps make sure she can work hard in school and get the same opportunity as her classmates who access the Internet at home with no problem.

My bills are increasing faster than I can keep track of these days. Living on a fixed income makes it hard to find any peace when my bills keep increasing and my income doesn’t go up. That’s why a program that can save us money is so necessary right now.

But my story isn’t unique — there are so many grandmas like me who are struggling to keep up during retirement. All grandparents want to see their grandkids get opportunities and succeed. That’s what the ACP does, it gives people opportunity.

At the end of the day, what really upsets me is the impact that losing the ACP will have on my granddaughter. I don’t want her to get behind in school because Congress doesn’t understand the importance of this program. The deciders in Congress live in a privileged bubble and shouldn’t determine whether or not we deserve basic access to the Internet. They don’t understand the impact this has on families across America, on our kids. It just goes right over their heads. I come from a family of Republicans and used to vote red. Today, I’m a registered Independent and just want to see Congress work.

We need Congress to pay attention, hear us, and act fast. Congress has a bipartisan bill that would keep the ACP going. I want to see Congressman Eli Crane support that bill and help people stay connected to the internet. Representative Crane talks a lot about how bad things are right now, but I want to see him take action to actually help us.

The ACP first got support from both Republicans and Democrats, and it’s an example of how the government should work. It gives me hope that it became a law in the first place. This bipartisanship must continue by keeping the ACP, for the people like me who just want to give their grandkids a better future.

The ACP is about opportunity. Access to the Internet levels the playing field for our kids and it keeps us all connected. There’s no end to what can be done, or what can be achieved, when we all have the same opportunity and the ACP provides opportunity.