June 16, 2022

Manchin Announces Another $5 Million from American Rescue Plan to Expand Broadband Access for West Virginia Students

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced an additional $5,012,488 from the American Rescue Plan for the Harrison County School District and the Community Action of Southeastern West Virginia Head Start Program as part of the latest rounds of the Emergency Connectivity Fund. This funding is distributed through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help schools, libraries and educational organizations purchase laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers and broadband connections for students, staff and library visitors. To date, West Virginia has received more than $45 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund.

“The Emergency Connectivity Fund has provided more than $45 million to support connecting West Virginia students, schools and libraries to reliable broadband. I successfully fought to include around $48 million to West Virginia in the American Rescue Plan to provide broadband through hotspots so West Virginia students can learn and complete homework at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I fought to include around $600 million in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to create long-term solutions to increase broadband deployment in West Virginia,” said Senator Manchin. “I look forward to seeing the positive impacts of this continued investment from the FCC and I will continue working to bring reliable, affordable broadband to every holler across the Mountain State.”

The Emergency Connectivity Fund was authorized in the American Rescue Plan, which passed the Senate in March 2021, to provide $7.17 billion to expand distance learning and connectivity around the country. It included key provisions authored by Senator Manchin which prioritized rural areas and made these funds fully reimbursable to ensure rural states like West Virginia do not have to bear the burden of higher costs.

A timeline of Senator Manchin’s work on the Emergency Connectivity Fund:
  • On March 1, 2022, Senator Manchin announced an additional $2,431,022 from the American Rescue Plan for West Virginia schools, school districts, libraries and other education organizations as part of the latest round of the Emergency Connectivity Fund.
  • On January 27, 2022, Senator Manchin announced an additional $400,947 from the American Rescue Plan for two West Virginia schools, school districts, libraries, and other education organizations through the Emergency Connectivity Fund.
  • On January 12, 2022, Senator Manchin announced $561,367 from the American Rescue Plan for three West Virginia schools, school districts, libraries and other education organizations in the latest round of funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund.
  • On December 20, 2021, West Virginia received an additional $2,824,894 from the Emergency Connectivity fund for ten West Virginia schools, school districts and libraries. 
  • On November 10, 2021, Senator Manchin announced $16,072,811 from the Emergency Connectivity Fund for thirteen West Virginia schools, school districts, libraries and other education organizations.
  • On October 13, 2021, Senator Manchin announced $12,760,030 from the Emergency Connectivity Fund for nineteen West Virginia schools, school districts and libraries.
  • On September 24, 2021, Senator Manchin announced $4,188,368 from the first round of the Emergency Connectivity Fund for twelve West Virginia schools, school districts and libraries.
A timeline of Senator Manchin’s efforts to expand broadband can be found here.

Individual awards from the latest rounds of the Emergency Connectivity Fund listed below:
  • $4,920,872 – Harrison County School District
  • $91,616 – Community Action of Southeastern West Virginia Head Start Program