Portland gave out $3 million in prepaid debit cards for free internet — but it is unclear how the money was spent

Author: Kyle Iboshi (KGW)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) — The city of Portland allocated $3 million in CARES Act funding to help bridge the digital divide by providing roughly 8,000 debit cards preloaded with $364 each to cover the cost of internet for one year.

A KGW investigation found the government program aimed at providing connectivity for low-income residents and people of color had structural flaws.

Smart City PDX had no system in place to determine whether funds were used for the intended purpose — a key measurement of the program’s success. Instead, the program relied on good faith that recipients would use the $364 cash cards on internet, instead of something else.

By contrast, similar projects elsewhere including Houston and a state-run program in Alabama provided vouchers for service providers, such as Comcast, to ensure that qualified applicants could stay connected to the internet.

“When you hand out a gift card that just has money on it or there’s not a voucher attached to it — there’s no guarantee that money will be spent on what you want it to be spent on,” warned Eric Fruits, vice president of research at Cascade Policy Institute.

Smart City PDX suggested that prepaid gift cards gave recipients greater freedom, privacy and convenience to set up new internet service or upgrade existing service.

“Internet assistance cards allow each individual to identify the best way for them to connect to the Internet,” explained the Smart City PDX website.

KGW’s analysis of Smart City PDX records obtained through a public records request found the program had unequal distribution. More than 800 people received two or more prepaid debit cards. One person took home six cash cards, valued at more than $2,000. Another person got five debit cards, despite listing only four people in their household.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3BaQjEl

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