On July 22, 2021, Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) led 40 members of Congress to introduce the Securing Universal Communications Connectivity to Ensure Students Succeed (SUCCESS) Act. The bill would extend the Emergency Connectivity Fund by five years and provide $8 billion a year, totaling $40 billion over five years, to schools and libraries.
Senator Markey’s website noted that the SUCCESS Act will provide crucial additional funding to ensure that the kids who are finally being connected by the Emergency Connectivity Fund are not disconnected once the original funds run dry.
The SHLB Coalition applauded the introduction of SUCCESS Act stating, “…Even before the coronavirus pandemic, millions of students and library patrons without home broadband were locked out of the 21st century – a problem too complex to solve through temporary programs. SHLB applauds Senators Markey and Van Hollen and Congresswoman Meng for their continued pursuit of a long-term solution to the digital divide with the introduction of the SUCCESS Act today…”
A copy of the legislation can be viewed here
