U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate caucus luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters)` -A group of U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission chair to withdraw a plan to end government subsidies for wireless use on school buses after they were initially created under a COVID-era program.

The lawmakers led by Senator Ed Markey noted that in the 2024 budget the FCC provided $48 million to fund Wi-Fi on buses, and more than 8,000 schools and libraries have requested tens of millions of dollars for more than 200,000 hotspot connections for students and educators.

Removing federal support "would force cutbacks in service and impose abrupt costs on schools and libraries across the country," said the letter signed by more than 50 Democratic lawmakers including Senators Ron Wyden, Mark Kelly, Cory Booker, Ben Ray Lujan, Peter Welch and Brian Schatz.

FCC chair Brendan Carr asked the commission earlier this month to reverse policies adopted under then-President Joe Biden that allowed subsidies for Wi-Fi use on school buses and for wireless hotspots that could be checked out of libraries for online access. Carr said the proposal "will end the FCC’s illegal funding for unsupervised screen time for young kids."

A spokesperson for Carr did not immediately comment.

The U.S. Senate in May voted under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the FCC school bus internet and hotspot subsidies. Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz said the rule did not require schools to obtain parental consent before distributing subsidized hotspots or establish meaningful filtering requirements. The House has not taken up the measure.

Then FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in approving the program it would help schoolchildren get homework done on bus trips.

She noted that in some rural areas children spend an hour or more on the bus to get to and from school or athletic events, and those without access to the internet at home struggle to get nightly assignments completed. "This is smart, creative, and consistent with the statute," Rosenworcel said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Hugh Lawson)