Support the COVS Act

The Alliance for Technology Refurbishing and Reuse (AFTRR), Digitunity, and Public Knowledge, are working together to support passage of landmark legislation that will help close the digital divide. The Computers for Veterans and Students Act (H.R. 3544, the “COVS Act”) could direct hundreds of thousands of out-of-service, repairable computers from the federal government to nonprofit refurbishers. Participating refurbishers will repair and distribute these devices, together with digital literacy training resources, to educational institutions, veterans, individuals with disabilities, low-income individuals, students, and seniors.

The COVS Act has been introduced by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), with bipartisan support from initial co-sponsors Rep. Wittman (R-VA) and Rep. Luria (D-VA).

An estimated 36 million people in America do not have a connected computer at home. Digitunity and its partners support this legislation because directing repairable large-screen devices from the federal government to refurbishers serving their communities provides a common-sense way to help close the technology gap, especially at a time when the need for free or low-cost devices is simply staggering.

Please ask your U.S. Representative to consider supporting the bill as a co-sponsor. To make that process easy, you can use Digitunity’s tool to find your member of the House of Representatives and choose from three email templates. You can then tailor text to your needs, copy and paste the text into the body of an email, and send it to your Representative.  Click the button below to get started.

Thank you for helping us get this legislation across the finish line. We need it more than ever before.