LOS ANGELES — Like many people, Maria Ramos relies on the internet for connecting to the outside world, but she is also one of many seniors on a fixed income, trying to keep up with inflation. 

She currently depends on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to help pay for much needed internet access.  

“When you’re a senior and your income is pretty set, you know, everything goes up and my salary doesn’t and my pension, I’m living off that,” Ramos said.

She lost her partner a year ago and moved into a small studio in West Covina. Now, she relies heavily on the internet to chat virtually with her family and stay up to date regarding medical appointments.

“Doctor communication is all online. They send me emails. I can respond to them online, and it’s just my livelihood,” Ramos said.

Congress allocated more than $14 billion to launch the ACP during the pandemic. It provides a $30 government subsidy to low-income individuals, or those who fell on hard times during COVID.

It also aimed to improve the digital divide, which drew added attention after a photo during the pandemic went viral, showing two children sitting outside a Taco Bell in Salinas, California trying to get Wi-Fi for their classes.

Jeff Skolnick runs a small internet service provider that caters to affordable housing complexes.

“We may lose I’d say close to 20% of our business because of the ACP program going away,” he said.

The FCC stopped accepting applications after Feb. 7 in anticipation of the program running out of money by April. 

The agency says unless Congress acts, one in six households nationwide may no longer be able to afford broadband access.

“If you have children, being able to have the children do their homework, watch any sort of instructional videos [is helpful],” Skolnick said.

The ACP has some bipartisan support, but there are Republicans who argue the program is wasteful and subsidizes millions of households that already paid for broadband internet, prior to the program. 

Skolnick isn’t optimistic Congress will extend it.

“We have a game plan to try to come up with a package that they can afford and hopefully keep their service on,” he said.

Ramos worries if the ACP disappears, she’ll no longer be able to pay for her home internet.

“I’ll probably have to go to a library and again, you know, accessibility. I don’t drive that much anymore,” she said.

A woman who used to teach computer literacy to adults is now one of millions who could find themselves disconnected.