1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	memorializing the President and the United States Congress to extend funding for the 
1.3 	Affordable Connectivity Program of 2021, which provides our citizens with access to 
1.4 	broadband services.
1.5 	WHEREAS, access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband service is essential to full 
1.6 	participation in modern life in Minnesota and throughout the United States; and
1.7 	WHEREAS, that the persistent "digital divide" in this State and in the United States is a 
1.8 	barrier to the economic competitiveness in the economic distribution of essential public services, 
1.9 	including health care and education; and
1.10 	WHEREAS, in 2021, as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's historic 
1.11 	investment in broadband infrastructure and digital equity, Congress appropriated more than fourteen 
1.12 	billion dollars for the Affordable Connectivity Program; and
1.13 	WHEREAS, based on the current expenditure rates, all of the appropriated funding for the 
1.14 	Affordable Connectivity Program could be exhausted in early 2024; and
1.15 	WHEREAS, the Affordable Connectivity Program has been a tremendous success, with 
1.16 	almost 241,000 Minnesota households enrolled in the program and 23,000,000 households enrolled 
1.17 	nationally; and
1.18 	WHEREAS, the Affordable Connectivity Program has been a critical tool in helping bridge 
1.19 	the digital divide that exists between those who have access to modern information and 
1.20 	communications technology and those who do not; NOW, THEREFORE,
1.21 	BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges and requests 
1.22 	each member of the Minnesota congressional delegation to support continued funding of the 
1.23 	Affordable Connectivity Program so that low-income Minnesota households can continue to receive 
1.24 	the support they need to participate in the digital marketplace.
2.1 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed 
2.2 	to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the 
2.3 	presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United 
2.4 	States of America, and to each member of the Minnesota congressional delegation.