CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey recently joined a bipartisan coalition of 39 attorneys general in urging Congress to ensure that all Americans have adequate internet connectivity as part of any additional legislation that provides Coronavirus relief and recovery resources.
“A failure to act promptly will continue to leave millions of Americans struggling to catch up,” Morrisey joined in writing a letter to congressional leaders. “And the importance of broadband has skyrocketed just at the time when so many Americans are struggling financially – more than 30 million unemployment claims have been filed in the last two months, a harbinger of the recession to come.”
In their letter, the AGs ask Congress to provide state and local governments with adequate funding expressly dedicated to ensuring that all students and patients, especially senior citizens who are at risk, have adequate internet-enabled technology to participate equally in online learning and telemedicine.
Additionally, the coalition asks for increased funding to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Universal Service Fund. They say it would provide vital funding to rural and low-income populations, healthcare providers and educators with the goal of bridging the digital divide.
Morrisey signed the Colorado-, Montana-, Nebraska- and North Carolina-led letter with attorneys general from Alaska, American Samoa, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.