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Kids Action Opposes Efforts in Congress to Reduce Internet Access for Low-Income Kids

In this digital age, internet access is essential for every child to have the opportunity to thrive.

No good deed goes unpunished, as they say, and that can be true in public policy as in the rest of life.

As you may have read, Kids Action helped secure a major victory on behalf of helping all children access the Internet when the FCC on March 31 approved changes to its Lifeline program to add broadband service to its existing telephone option for low-income households. The modernization added more money and made other changes to make the program more efficient and accountable.

With most kids getting homework assigned over the Internet, but with 5 million households with school-age kids lacking high-speed or any Internet at all, getting all households connected is important for equal educational opportunity.

But no sooner had the FCC taken this great step than did some lawmakers in Congress start talking about cutting back this important service. A bill in the House and a draft bill in the Senate could limit the number of households getting online. We need to do more, not less, to reduce the digital divide and the homework gap.

Common Sense's CEO and founder Jim Steyer, along with an ally in Missouri, spoke out against these proposals, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran their piece this week. You can read it here. Help us make sure all kids have digital opportunities to get ahead. Join Kids Action today.

Danny Weiss

Danny Weiss is Chief Advocacy Officer at Common Sense. In this role, he oversees all advocacy and public policy operations. He brings nearly three decades of service on Capitol Hill, most recently as chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Danny first joined Common Sense in 2015 and returned again in 2020, and has led efforts to close the digital divide, protect children's online data privacy, hold tech companies accountable for online harms to kids and teens, and expand access to programs that lift children out of poverty, like the expanded Child Tax Credit. In his spare time, he likes cook dinner and play percussion.