Rosenworcel Wants '100% US Broadband Access Policy

The U.S. should adopt a "100% policy" on broadband access, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during a League of United Latin American Citizens webinar, as "100% of our households should have access to electricity, clean water, and fast and reliable broadband that they can afford." Rosenworcel called it her "primary goal." Students that lacked access to virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic were "disproportionately rural, low-income, and Latinx," she said: "Our collective success depends on getting every one of those students connected." Touting the Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rosenworcel wants the FCC to continue working on "a way to solve the homework gap once and for all." Also Thursday, LULAC announced a partnership with Heartland Forward and will use $50,000 in grant funding for outreach efforts to boost emergency broadband benefit program enrollment among Latino households. Partnerships like this are "crucial to expanding outreach and enrollment efforts, particularly in Latino communities where many still don’t have the home internet access they need," Rosenworcel said in a statement.