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For many Americans, stimulus checks were the immediate focal point of the federal government’s $900 billion coronavirus relief package passed in December 2020. But the package included some other helpful programs, too.
One of them, as Kiplinger reports, is the Federal Communications Commission’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. Basically, the government is recognizing that the pandemic has forced work, school, doctor’s appointments, and other vital activities to happen completely online, and internet access has become more of a necessity than ever before. To ease the financial strain, the FCC will cover at least $50 of your monthly internet bill if you qualify for the program (and if your service provider is one of the 800 or so providers that agreed to participate). That minimum sum rises to $75 if you live on certain Tribal lands. And you can also claim $100 to buy a new laptop, desktop computer, or tablet.