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  "description": "Three-year pilot adds internet subsidies to the state’s phone discount program.",
  "path": "/with-acp-gone-california-turns-to-lifeline-for-broadband-relief/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-09-02T16:02:38.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_an announcement_",
    "_LifeLine program_",
    "_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_",
    "Join the Community!",
    "_a release_",
    "_the California Affordable Home Internet Act_",
    "_industry lobbying_",
    "_abandoned the bill_",
    "_since 1985_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2025 – California is testing whether its long-running LifeLine phone subsidy can help low-income households pay for broadband too.\n\nIn _an announcement_ Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission detailed a new three-year pilot that expands the state’s _LifeLine program_ beyond voice.\n\nThe pilot offers participants a $20 monthly subsidy for standalone broadband service, $30 for broadband bundled with a phone line from the same provider, and up to $39 once a year to cover the cost of a new connection.\n\n\n\n_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_\n\n Join the Community! \n\nTo qualify, broadband service must meet minimum standards of 100 * 20 Megabits per second (Mbps) and offer at least 1,280 GB of data each month, unless such service isn’t technically feasible or the plan qualifies as a low-cost option.\n\n“Broadband is essential for work, school, health, and safety,” said CPUC President **Alice Reynolds** , in _a release_. “This pilot program will play a key role in achieving the goal of connecting Californians.”\n\nAccording to data from a recently expired federal broadband affordability subsidy, the Affordable Connectivity Program, a total of 5,844,797 California households with incomes at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines were eligible for broadband assistance. That threshold equates to an annual income of about $31,300 for a single person and $64,300 for a family of four in 2025.\n\nThat affordability gap has fueled policymakers to expand subsidies and lower broadband prices.\n\nDuring the 2025 legislative session in Sacramento, Assemblymember **Tasha Boerner** , D-Encinitas, floated _the California Affordable Home Internet Act_, which would’ve required large internet providers to offer 100 * 20 Mbps broadband plans for just $15/month to low-income households that receive public assistance – modeling New York’s successful effort.\n\nThe bill passed the Assembly 52–17 in June but then ran into pushback, and was ultimately gutted in committee following heavy telecom _industry lobbying_.\n\nBoerner eventually _abandoned the bill_, citing federal warnings that regulating rates could jeopardize California’s eligibility for nearly $1.9 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. That left the LifeLine pilot as the state’s most concrete affordability initiative for now.\n\nIn contrast to the federal ACP, California’s LifeLine sets its income threshold at 150 percent of poverty, meaning fewer households may qualify for the state subsidy, unless they are enrolled in certain public-assistance programs, such as CalFresh, Medi-Cal, or SSI.\n\nCalifornia’s state regulators have operated LifeLine _since 1985_, when the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act established discounted residential phone service for low-income households. The program is funded through a surcharge on phone bills collected by carriers and overseen by the CPUC.",
  "title": "With ACP Gone, California Turns to LifeLine for Broadband Relief",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T05:46:44.232Z"
}