A second round of stimulus checks was expected to land in the bank accounts of millions of Americans as early as next week, thanks to the $ 900 billion financial aid package Congress made it happened Monday night. But President Donald Trump’s sudden insistence Tuesday that lawmakers increase stimulus checks from $ 600 on the bill to $ 2,000 per person now calls into question the timing and amount of checks.
The convulsion comes after Congress added $ 600 per person checks to the bill during last-minute negotiations, an amount some lawmakers had considered too low, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Independent, and Josh. Hawley of Missouri, a Republican. Trump seemed to agree with critics, saying in one video posted on Twitter on December 22 that he would not sign the economic relief package, calling the stimulus controls “ridiculously low”.
“I ask Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low from $ 600 to $ 2,000, or $ 4,000 for a couple,” Trump said in the recorded message.
On Thursday, Democrats tried to approve direct payments of $ 2,000 by unanimous consent during a pro forma session, but were blocked by House Republicans.
“On Monday, I will return to the session in the House where we will hold a registered vote on our autonomous bill to increase payments for economic impact to $ 2,000. To vote against this bill is to deny the financial difficulties facing the families and deny them “The relief they need,” President Nancy Pelosi said in a statement after the move.
The $ 600 checks billed by the relief bill would account for half of the $ 1,200 addressed to most adults in the first round of stimulus checks. Critics had said the aid would be useful, but not enough to overcome families who have suffered loss of income or jobs since the Coronavirus pandemic it closed the economy in March and caused rising unemployment.
Nearly 6 in 10 consumers say they have been financially successful due to the pandemic in late November, according to a recent TransUnion study, which also found that 40% of these households had opted for the prospect of another stimulus control. to help them pay their bills.
Mr. Trump’s retreat raises new questions for millions of Americans waiting for the next round of checks.
How likely are $ 2,000 checks?
Democrats support Trump’s $ 2,000 check request, but it’s unclear how many Republicans will join because the larger payments proposal would cost about $ 530 billion, or about $ 385 billion more than it goes passed Congress with $ 600 checks. Heights Values.
House Democrats said so plans to offer an invoice for $ 2,000 stimulus checks this Thursday, and they will try to approve it by unanimous consent, as no one will be on the floor to vote. Wednesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted to support the $ 2,000 checks and wrote, “Let’s do it!”
He added that Republicans had “repeatedly refused to say how much the president wanted for direct checks” during the lengthy negotiations.
Wall Street analysts say they believe the current bill, with $ 600 checks, passed by large bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, is very likely to move forward, however.
“Our basic case is that the bill passed by Congress will become law,” Raymond analyst James Ed Mills said in a December 22 research note.
What about the timing of the checks?
With Trump’s setback, it seems increasingly unlikely that stimulus checks will start reaching people’s bank accounts as early as next week, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had predicted on Dec. 21.
Another round of negotiations could delay the bill by several days, while a veto by Mr. Trump could delay the passage of a bill by weeks.
There are some ways this could take place, according to Wall Street analysts. Congress could agree on the $ 2,000 checks early next week, paving the way for Trump to sign the bill, but it’s unclear whether Republican lawmakers will accept the change, Heights Securities noted.
If Mr. Trump vetoes the bill, “things could really break,” Heights Securities said. Congress could try to pass the bill again at the new session of Congress, which begins Jan. 3, but lawmakers could try to reconsider some provisions of the bill, such as the amount for stimulus testing, which could delay the pace again, they predicted.
What about $ 600 checks?
For now, some analysts say the $ 600 check bill is very likely to move forward, even though the path is “complicated,” Raymond James’ Mills said.
The controls would account for half of the amount targeted at most U.S. households in the spring, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (or CARES Act) authorized $ 1,200 for eligible adults.
However, according to the bill passed by Congress, one group of people would receive more money in the second round of stimulus checks than the first: dependent children, who would receive the same $ 600 checks as adults, of the $ 500. dollars that children received through the CARES law in the spring.
Single people earning up to $ 75,000 would receive $ 600, while married couples earning up to $ 150,000 would receive $ 1,200.
The second round of checks would have the same type of income elimination as under the CARES Act, with incentive check payments reduced by earnings in excess of $ 75,000 per single person or $ 150,000 per married couple.
The amount of payment individuals receive would be reduced by $ 5 for every $ 100 of income earned above these thresholds, according to the House Appropriations Committee. This is similar to the CARES Act, but fewer taxpayers with higher incomes could obtain checks under this formula if compared to the previous bill.
Second stimulus checks would be completely eliminated for single people earning more than $ 87,000 or married couples earning more than $ 174,000, compared to the phasing out of the CARES Act for single people earning more than $ 99,000 and for couples earning more than $ 198,000.
To check how much you can receive, you can go to the second Omni Calculator stimulus calculator to get an estimate.
$ 600 for each “dependent” child
Aside from the smaller stimulus checks for adults, the other major change under the bill passed by Congress is the amount planned for dependent children: $ 600 for each child, compared to $ 500 for the CARES law.
However, the bill says $ 600 would go to every dependent child under the age of 17, which means that adults who, however, declare themselves dependent, such as college students and older high school students, could not. get the controls.
Adult dependents, such as seniors who declare themselves dependent on their adult children’s tax returns, would also not be able to obtain checks. The exclusion of college students and other adult dependents was the subject of debate with the first round of checks, and some families argued that older dependents should also be entitled to payments.
A family of two parents with two dependent children could receive up to $ 2,400 according to the provision, lawmakers said.
“Mixed state” home
Couples that include a immigrant without a green card would also qualify for controls, a retroactive provision in the CARES Act, according to the summary.
This is important for many families, as the first round of stimulus checks was only for U.S. citizens or immigrants with resident alien status, also known as the Green Card. Legal immigrants without a green card were excluded, as well as undocumented immigrants, and married American citizens with immigrants without a green card, as well as their children, even if the dependent youth are citizens, were also excluded.
Deny checks to American citizens because of their partner or partner with an immigrant lawsuits earlier this year for which the plaintiffs claimed unconstitutional action.
How about Social Security recipients?
An error in the first stimulus payments was one slower deployment for Social Security beneficiaries, as well as beneficiaries of supplementary security income, beneficiaries of the Railway Retirement Board and beneficiaries of the Veterans Administration. Because some of these recipients do not file tax returns, which the IRS relied on to distribute the first stimulus payments, millions of them waited weeks or months to get their checks.
But the new bill would ensure these recipients receive the $ 600 checks automatically, according to New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, who worked on a bipartisan stimulus bill that became part of the latest negotiations. .
“I am particularly pleased that the final text of the aid package includes my bipartisan bill to ensure that recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and certain AV benefits will receive these payments automatically,” Hassan said. in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
That means millions of Social Security, SSI, VA and Railroad retirement benefits would not risk being lost on receiving payments, he added.
Additional Stimulus Benefits:
$ 300 a week in extra unemployment benefits
Aside from the $ 600 stimulus checks, the stimulus bill also includes an additional $ 300 a week in unemployment benefits. That means unemployed workers will receive their regular state unemployment payments, plus $ 300 more by March 14, 2021.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers self-employed workers and self-employed workers, would also be extended, as would the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (PEUC), which provides weeks additional benefits for those who have been left without their regular state unemployment benefits.
PPP loans for small businesses
The Wage Protection Program would be extended with another $ 284 billion in forgivable loans. Part of the funding will go to what the bill describes as very small businesses through lenders such as minority depository institutions, following criticism that the first round of PPP loans overlooked many minority and female-owned businesses. .
The PPP program would also expand eligibility for nonprofits and local newspapers, television and radio stations.
Another $ 20 billion in economic disaster loans will go to businesses in low-income communities, while $ 15 billion will go to live spaces, independent cinemas and cultural institutions, which have been forced to cut or close operations due to pandemic.