Trump admin may kill program that gives web access to disadvantaged people of color

The Lifeline program, which provides a monthly subsidy to low-income Americans who qualify for federal aid programs, including help with Internet access, is under threat

Jay Scott Smith

Jul 20, 2018

As is commonplace these days in Trump’s America, another program that appears to help minorities and low-income Americans is under the threat of being dismantled.

This time, according to the Pacific Standard, it’s the Lifeline program which provides a monthly subsidy to low-income Americans who qualify for federal aid programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid, for phone and Internet service.

Unlike many of this administration’s blatant attempts to reverse policies that help people of color and the poor, the Lifeline program dates back to the 1980s when the Reagan administration attempted to help low-income people afford phone service.

There are currently an estimated 12.5 million Americans who are currently a part of the program, and recipients can only get one subsidy per household. In 2016, the then Obama-led FCC updated Lifeline to include standalone broadband service and phone and Internet bundles, recognizing the importance of Internet access in everything from health to education.

According to a Department of Education study released in April, far more black and Latino Americans live in homes without Internet access than white Americans. The report found that only 53 percent of black children and 52 percent of Latino children, aged 3 to 18, have Internet access at home, compared to 66 percent of white children.

The study also found that 46 percent of black children and 44 percent of Latino children said that without home Internet access was too expensive, as opposed to 28 percent for white children.

Seeing these numbers, you would think that these numbers would lead to more being invested into the program. Instead, the FCC – led by Trump appointee, Ajit Pai – has recently threatened to gut Lifeline and could leave millions of Americans, particularly black and brown families, without internet access.

The agency is seeking to phase out of the program the inclusion of standalone broadband, while also proposing to eliminate requirements that providers participating in Lifeline sell recipients mobile devices that are Wi-Fi and hotspot-enabled. That would mean that most homes would have to share a single cell phone or table.

This could also make the job of teachers that much more difficult. An estimated 70 percent of teachers assign homework that requires Internet access, which puts those without it in an even greater disadvantage.

Only 57 percent of black American adults and 47 percent of Hispanic American adults have broadband access at home, in contrast to 72 percent of whites.

What do you think of this potential gutting of yet another important program by the Trump administration? Let us know in the comments below.