Virtual Town Hall on the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program
9:53PM Jun 8, 2021
Speakers:
Yvette D. Clarke
Jessica Rosenworcel
Eduard Bartholme
Keywords:
household
broadband
benefit
eligible households
providers
program
lifeline
chairwoman
pandemic
qualify
participating
broadband service
fcc
eligible
discount
brooklyn
emergency
evening
bill
service
Good evening everyone, I'm Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, and I proudly represent you in New York's 9th District, that's Central and South Brooklyn. I am so proud to convene this expert panel of distinguished leaders at the Federal Communications Commission. We have gathered this evening to discuss the emergency broadband Benefit Program, which is an FCC program to help families and households struggling to afford Internet service during the COVID 19 pandemic. This new and critical program will connect connect eligible households to jobs, critical healthcare services, virtual classrooms, and so much more. We know that broadband is an essential utility and consumers, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, deserve access to affordable and reliable broadband as our communities continue to recover from the COVID 19 pandemic, ensuring connectivity to jobs critical healthcare services and virtual classrooms are vital. As chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation, as well as a high ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, I'm very passionate about preserving and promoting equitable access to broadband for all.
You know communities of color are far more likely to have slower and less reliable Internet service. This disparity creates significant barriers to accessing employment opportunities, educational opportunities, healthcare resources and dismiss diminishes opportunities for civic engagement. So let me be very clear, broadband is an essential part of daily American life in the 21st century. However, more than 19 million households do not have reliable broadband access. Simply put, we need to make an aggressive case to reach, and sustain universal broadband. The Emergency Broadband Benefit will provide a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households, and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet, for participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is limited to one monthly service discount, and one device discount per household. And while the EBB program presents a temporary relief, it is critical that eligible New Yorkers enroll and take advantage of this federal resource, and the myriad of other benefits in the American Rescue Plan.
I want to make sure all of you are aware of the other benefits you are still eligible for, and can apply for. There's the earned income tax credit for 17 million workers. The top occupations that will benefit are cashiers, food preparers and servers, home health care aides, frontline workers, who have helped their communities get through this crisis. There's also the Child Tax Credit of $3,000 per child, $3600 for a child under the age of six, and make 17 year olds qualify as children for the year. This means a typical family of four with two young children will qualify for an additional $3,200 in assistance to help cover costs associated with raising children. Please make sure you avail yourself of this benefit.
In addition, the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program is still in effect, this federal funeral assistance can be used to help with expenses for funeral services and interment, or cremation. The maximum amount of financial aid available is $9,000 per funeral, you may apply for multiple deceased individuals, with a maximum of $35,500 per application. If multiple people helped pay the funeral expenses, they should apply under a single application. Applications began on April 12 2021, and the toll free number. To access this benefit, even if you've already buried your loved one, is 844-684-6333. That's 844-684-6333.
However, the subject at hand this evening is the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. And, without further ado, I'd like to welcome the FCC acting Chairwoman, Ms. Jessica Rosenworcel.
Thank you so much, Congresswoman Clark, it is great to be with you, but hopefully next time we can do this in person, and in Brooklyn.
Absolutely. Let me share a little bit more about our FCC Chairwoman. From fighting to protect net neutrality, to ensuring access to the Internet for students caught in the homework gap, Chairwoman Rosenworcel has been a consistent champion for connecting all. She is a leader in spectrum policy, developing new ways to support wireless services, from Wi Fi to video, and the Internet of Things. She is also responsible for developing policies to help expand the reach of broadband to schools, libraries, hospitals, and households across the country. Chairwoman Rosenworcel, you have the floor.
Well thank you, Congressman Clarke. Like I was saying, next time in person and in Brooklyn, because you represent a district that is near and dear to my heart, it is where my parents grew up. So I know how terrific Central and South Brooklyn can be. And, I also know that you have pointed out to your colleagues, time and time again, that when we talk about the digital divide, we're not just talking about rural America. We're talking about urban America too, because there's lots of households in our urban communities that are not connected to the Internet. And, you know, before this pandemic we might have talked about, broadband is nice to have. Well, those days are over, iIt's need to have for everyone, everywhere. So, the good news is we now have, courtesy of Congress, the Emergency Broadband Benefit. It's a really big deal. It's the nation's largest ever broadband affordability program.
So, this is the way to help get households online, who may not have broadband access today. And so, if you're in a household that is on SNAP, Medicaid, you subscribe to Lifeline, you have a student on the free and reduced lunch program. or you receive Pell Grants, the odds are that you qualify. If you lost your job during the last year, or you saw a substantial reduction in income last year, odds are you also qualify. The bottom line is, this program is a terrific way to help households get onlin, so they don't have to choose between paying rent, groceries, and their broadband bill.
And we know, when you go online, it's more than just watching. It's how education takes place. It's where health care is happening, and it's where work is happening for so many people. So, we got to make sure everyone gets there. 100%, nothing less. That's true for urban America and rural America alike. Now, despite that. we do know this, there's probably someone right now in Brooklyn, who's a student, who's sitting outside of a fast food restaurant just grabbing the Wi-Fi signal to go online and do their nightly homework. There's probably someone else's lingering outside of a library in Brooklyn, doing the same, in order to catch up on work, search for a job, or keep up with family and friends, and there might even be someone who is not signing up for a vaccine, because they don't have the Internet access to sign up for a time, that actually works on their calendar.
The bottom line is we can fix these problems, and the Emergency Broadband Benefit can help. So, I'm thrilled that you brought us all here together to talk about it tonight. And then, I really hope that we can find trusted individuals in the community in Brooklyn, trusted institutions in the community in Brooklyn, to help us get the word out, because this is a terrific program, and it's a way to make sure no household is left offline, and we got to do some work to make sure people learn some more about it, and get its full benefit.
Well. let me thank you Chairwoman Rosenworcel, you have been a true champion for all Americans, but particularly the most vulnerable, and those who lack access, and we are grateful for your innovation, your creativity, and your poignant and comprehensive remarks, your dedication to increasing equitable access to broadband. So, with that. It's now my honor to introduce to you our next speaker who we have, and he will be providing an overview. We will have the EBB program overview from Eduard Bartholme, the associate bureau chief for the Consumer and Government Affairs Division at the FCC. Eduard, you have the floor.
Thank you, Congresswoman, thank you acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel. I'd also like to start by thanking everybody who's taking the time to join us this evening to learn more about this new and exciting program. I've got some slides, if we can bring those up.
Then I'll provide you guys with an overview of who's eligible, what the discount or the benefit is, how households can apply, and I also want to talk briefly about a toolkit that the FCC has developed to aid partners, navigators, and others directly serving their communities, and getting the word out about this program. I'm going to share a couple websites along the way, and some detailed information about the program, and how to follow up with the FCC if you have questions following the event this evening.
So as you just heard, and as we've all learned in recent months, broadband is no longer nice to have, it's need to have. What is the Emergency Broadband Benefit? The new benefit program is a temporary benefit program and it will help households, connect students to classrooms, individuals to remote work, and all of us to family, friends, telehealth services and other critical resources. The benefit provides eligible households with up to a $50 a month discount for broadband services, including associated equipment rentals, such as a modem, up to a $75 a month discount for households on tribal lands, and a one time discount of up to $100 for a laptop desktop computer or tablet, purchased through a participating provider, if the household contributes more than $10 and less than $50 towards the purchase price. It's important to note that the connected device must be provided by the same provider that the eligible household is receiving discount broadband service from, as part of the emergency broadband benefit coupon -- program. Sorry, it's not a coupon or rebate, and it can't be used at a third party retail store to buy a device, it has to be used with the same provider that's providing the monthly service discount.
The program is limited to one monthly service discount, and one device discount per eligible household, and the benefit is not a direct to consumer benefit, it's a discount off the monthly service bill and/or device. The provider then seeks reimbursement directly from the program. So, households that qualify will see the discount on their monthly service bill, they won't get a check in the mail, or a rebate card, to use to offset the cost of broadband services, it's right off the bill. The Emergency Broadband Benefit is a temporary program, and it was developed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will end once program funds are exhausted, or six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic, whichever occurs first. The program is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company, or USAC, and they also administer the Lifeline program. USAC hosts the online application portal, that can be found at getemergencybroadband.org.
Who's eligible? There are 5 eligibility categories for households to qualify, and a household qualifies if one member of the household meets any one of these criteria: so, if a member of the household qualifies, or is currently receiving benefits in the Lifeline program, and I'll share a bit more about Lifeline in a minute; if someone in the household received a Pell Grant in the current award year; If someone is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced school lunch and breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019, 2020, or 2021 school years, and we knew it was important to make sure that the eligibility count for both the current school year and the previous school year, because a number of students have been fully remote during the current school year and may not have had to reapply for the free and reduced school lunch benefit program.
Another way to qualify is if someone in the household has experienced a substantial loss of income due to a job loss, or furlough, since the end of February 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers, or $198,000 for joint filers. And another way that households can qualify is if someone in the household meets the eligibility criteria for participating providers existing low income or COVID-19 program. So, some of you may be familiar with some of the income-based broadband service plans that providers offered before the pandemic, and if someone in a household did qualify for one of those, they automatically now qualify for the Emergency Broadband Benefit. So keep in mind that a member of the household must meet only one of the eligibility criteria, they don't need to check all five of those boxes to be eligible to start getting the monthly discount.
So, I mentioned lifeline before, and some of you may be familiar with the Lifeline program. It's a federal program that lowers the monthly cost of phone and Internet services, eligible households get up to $9.25 off their bill, or $34.25 if they are located on tribal lands. A household qualifies for lifeline if the household income is at, or less than, 135% of federal poverty guidelines, or a member of the household participates in one of these programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, federal public housing assistance, veteran's pension and survivor benefits, or certain tribal programs for those that live on federally recognized tribal lands. Current Lifeline participants are automatically eligible and, in most cases, they do not need to apply separately for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, but they do need to select a provider and eligible benefit plan in order to start receiving the monthly discount on their bill. Current lifeline recipients cannot be auto-enrolled in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program by their current Lifeline service provider, they need to provide affirmative consent before they can be enrolled. And you can receive both the Lifeline and Emergency Broadband Benefit at the same time, they can be applied to the same qualifying service, or separately to a Lifeline service, and an Emergency Broadband Benefit service, with the same or different providers. So, for example, an eligible household could have Lifeline supported mobile phone service, and a separate home broadband service that's supported through the Emergency Broadband Benefit.
I say households a lot when I talk about eligibility, so it's important to define what a household is. A household is a group of people who live together and share money, even if they're not related to each other. So, if you live together and share money, you're one household for the purposes of this program. If you don't live together, or do not share money, you are two or more households. So, if you think of a situation where roommates are living together but they're not sharing income, they're simply sharing, expenses, they would be two separate households, and each could independently qualify for the Emergency Broadband Benefit under the program rules.
There are other scenarios as well where households within multi unit dwellings, such as apartment buildings, nursing homes, and group homes, can take advantage of this benefit and be considered individual households within the program rules. In situations like this where a landlord or property manager is the Internet account holder, and the cost for Internet access is passed on to the household, to receive the benefit it's best to start the conversation with the property manager or the landlord, so that they can reach out to a participating provider, to learn how they can start enrolling eligible households within their apartment building, or nursing home, or group living situation, so that they can benefit from the eEmergency Broadband Benefit, and get that discount off their monthly bill.
You can learn more about how the program defined a household by visiting getemergencybroadband.org, and on that web page there's a navigation at the top that says, Do I Qualify? And below that there is, What is a Household? You'll find a definition there, and you'll also find a worksheet that you can use to figure out if you're one or multiple households at the same address.
It's also really important to note that the FCC included some important consumer protections in this program. The main purpose of these protections is to avoid bill shock happening when the temporary program ends. So, participating providers must give notice about the last date, or billing cycle, that the full benefit will apply to their bill, and the date, or billing cycle, that a partial benefit might apply to a household's bill, in addition to information about the cost of the broadband service after the program ends. Households will need to opt in, or request to continue broadband services with their provider, even if they've had service with the provider they're currently using before receiving the Emergency Broadband Benefit. They need to opt in to continue receiving broadband service after the program ends. And, eligible households can't be excluded from participating in the program with a provider based on prior debt. It's also worth noting that consumers can change their benefit to a different participating service provider at anytime. They're not locked into the company that they first enroll with, however the device discount can only be used once per eligible household, even if the household changes service providers during the program.
Now, we've talked about what it is and who's eligible. Let's talk a little bit about how you can apply for the benefit. The program opened on May 12, and, as of the numbers that we released yesterday, over 112,000 households in New York have signed up for and started to receive the Emergency Broadband Benefit. There are three main ways that you can apply for the benefit. The first is to contact a participating provider directly to learn about their application process. You can also apply online at getemergencybroadband.org. Or, you can complete a mail-in application, and send it in, along with photocopies of documents that prove your eligibility, to Emergency Broadband Support Center, PO Box 7081, London, KY 40742.
And, as a navigator or others that are helping to serve eligible households with enrollment, it's important to remember that assistance with online or paper applications must be provided in person, and that the individual applying for the benefit must sign the application and make other attestations in the online portal, or on the paper application, as part of the process.
A couple of notes about participating providers. There are over 1000 providers now participating across the country. The program is open to all broadband providers that meet program requirements, not just those currently offering Llifeline services. Both fixed and mobile broadband providers have elected to participate in the program, so households may have a variety of options for service type, and it's best to check with broadband providers in your local area to learn more about their plans for program participation, and the eligible service offerings they're making available. You can find a list of participating providers by state if you visit fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit. Many providers will be asking consumers to complete the online or mailing application available at getemergencybroadband.org, but it is worth noting that some providers have received approval from the FCC to use their own alternative verification process to enroll eligible households.
Next, I want to briefly talk about a toolkit that we developed to help promote awareness about this new and temporary program. We knew from the beginning that we would need trusted voices, and boots on the ground, to help us spread the word and make sure that people know, not only about the program, but about the benefits that being connected to the Internet can provide your household. The Outreach Toolkit we developed is a collection of social media tools, printable items, and other content that can help assist communities, partners, grassroots organizers, constituent services teams, and navigators in raising awareness about the Emergency Broadband Benefit. The tools are available for public use, they're downloadable, they're free, they can be co-branded, adjusted, put in your own voice. Our goal was really to create some easy to use materials that can be grabbed and printed, and sort of grab-and-go, make use of them in an easy and user friendly way. They're there to help making discussing the program with your audience easy, you can feel free to use copy and paste on items like model tweets, press releases, newsletter inserts, and it's just great to help with messaging, and helping to spread the word about the program.
So, the kit includes logos, sample social media posts and images, a draft newsletter insert. a fact sheet, a flyer, a 9x5 info card, a quarter page handout, a poster and infographic. audio PSA. a PowerPoint slide deck. so you can do a train the trainer style meeting like what we're doing here. We also have some videos that feature the acting Chairwoman, as well as a version in Spanish and American Sign Language, to help explain the program, and most all of the toolkit items are available in English and Spanish. There are a few items like the fact sheet, the 9x5 info card and the quarter page handout, that are also available in Arabic, Amharic, Burmese, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. And we're also happy to fulfill any requests for accessible formats such as large print, or braille materials, if you send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov.
I hope you'll consider taking these materials, and sharing them in your community. They're all designed to be printed at home, they work in color or grayscale, you can customize them by putting participating local providers on the back. If you'd like to see a longer version of the presentation I just gave that includes screenshots of the online application process. You can also find that fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.
So, I have spoken for quite a bit. I want to turn this back over to the Congresswoman and her team, so that we can get to some questions now. Thank you,
Thank you so much, Eduard. I know this information is going to be so beneficial to many of my constituents, and who better to have this evening than an expert, someone who is committed to getting this information out into our communities, and I'm glad that you've both joined me as we answer some questions from the people of the 9th District.
So, next we'll have questions from my constituents, followed by questions from those of you who might be tuned in right now on social media. The first question comes from Monica from Flatbush, who asked, How can I sign up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit? And can I apply for the Emergency Broadband Benefit, if I have a past due balance with the provider?
So, you can. To get to the point on the second part of the question. you can definitely sign up if you have a past due balance, the rules specifically address that, and that if you do, you can't be excluded from the program. How can you sign up? So, there are three ways: one is to talk to a provider directly; the second is to go to getemergencybroadband.org, and fill out the online application; you can also find a paper application which you can mail in there, and that's the third way to go about.
And, just as a follow up, how quickly, if you are able to sort of get this information, how quickly will this benefit be made available to you?
So, we have a really quick turnaround time on application review. Many applications are approved within minutes. There may be some documentation that somebody submits that may require an additional manual review, but that's also moving quickly. Once that's done, you would then contact the provider, and the thing is, providers, depending on how they structure their billing systems, and billing cycles, it may take one to two billing cycles for the discount to start to appear on your monthly bill. So, if it does take two months, which is the worst case scenario that we've heard, it would show up as two discounts, so you'd get $100 If you were getting $50 a month, it would show up double on the second month bill.
Very well. Quinten from the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood asks, Which broadband providers are participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit?
So, we have over 1000 listed across the country right now, and specific to New York, you can find a list of all the providers who are participating in New York State by going to fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit, and you'll find a list of participating providers that you can link to on that page.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Timothy from Gerritsen Beach, and he asks, Do I receive the funds directly each month?
So, you don't, They don't come to you directly. It's not a check, or a rebate card you get in the mail, it's a discount off your monthly service bill, and then the provider does the reimbursement on the back end, so the consumer doesn't get the money direct.
Very well. I am going to now have our control room, check with our social media friends to see whether in fact they have any questions for us at this time. Control room?
You two have been so very thorough this evening. It looks as though we may have answered all of the questions. Well, then let me just take this opportunity to thank both our Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel of the FCC, and Eduard Bartholme of the FCC, for lending your time and expertise to us this evening. I thought it was really important that the people of the 9th District of New York is made aware of this very important benefit. We know that broadband has really been a lifeline for many of our families, more now than ever during this pandemic, and the fact that our Chairwoman had the genius to invent this program, and put it out for the American people, we really have to thank her for her leadership in this space. And I want to thank everyone for participating in this evening's very important information session, and thank again our panelists for their in depth dedication, and comprehensive efforts to bring the EBB program to those of us who are in dire need of equitable broadband access.
So, to everyone, this evening, I want you to make sure that you follow me on all of my social media platforms, particularly once you get your EBB benefit, and you can reach me @RepYvetteClarke on all social media platforms, and sign up for my newsletter, at clarke.house.gov/newsletter, for updates and insight.
And, as we navigate through the COVID 19 pandemic of 2021, let me say to everyone, as always, stay healthy, stay safe, stay strong, continue to wear your mask and get vaccinated, if you haven't already. And, of course, stay blessed. Thank you for joining me this evening. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our office, right here in Brooklyn at 718-287-1142 that's 718-287-1142, and follow me on all the social media platforms at @RepYvetteClarke.
