The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it has launched what it is describing as the “country’s largest effort to close the homework gap,” and has opened the application window for $7.17 billion of funding through the agency’s Emergency Connectivity Fund.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on April 30 released a draft of a proposed order for the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, which would reimburse schools and libraries for their purchases of devices and broadband connections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) seeks comment on the Emergency Connectivity Fund for education connections and devices to address the homework gap during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a $94 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The bill also has the support of Clyburn’s Rural Broadband Task Force, composed of 27 House Democrats.