Tag: stimulus checks

GOP, Democrats debate scope of stimulus checks

The Hill logoRepublicans and Democrats are both interested in including a second round of stimulus checks in the next coronavirus relief bill, but they are looking at different parameters for the payments.

House Democrats passed legislation in May that would keep the same income limits as the payments that have already largely been distributed, while Republicans have suggested that they may provide for lower limits in a forthcoming proposal.

Under the law passed in March that established the first round of payments, individuals with incomes of up to $75,000 and married couples making up to $150,000 qualified for the full amount, with the amount reduced for those with higher incomes. Individuals with incomes above $99,000 and married couples with no children and incomes above $198,000 are not eligible for any payment. Continue reading.

McConnell says next COVID-19 relief bill will include stimulus checks

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republicans want to include a second round of stimulus checks and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding as part of their forthcoming coronavirus proposal.

“Speaking of building on what worked in the CARES Act, we want another round of direct payments, direct payments to help American families keep driving our national comeback,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.

The March $2.2 trillion coronavirus package included a one-time $1,200 payment for Americans who make up to $75,000 per year. The amount of the direct payment was scaled down until it hit an income level of $99,000 per year where it was phased out altogether. Continue reading.

San Juan Mayor Says ‘No One’ in Puerto Rico Has Received a COVID-19 Stimulus Check

The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, has alleged that none of the island’s eligible residents have received their expected stimulus payments from the federal government.

In an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday, Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of the U.S. territory’s capital city, said the island has not yet benefited from one of the U.S. government’s signature responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: stimulus checks that are intended to put up to $1,200 into the hands of many Americans.

Cruz said that the island has been struggling to get resources to the people who need them most and has insufficient equipment and tests to check its residents for the virus. She also said the island has struggled to deliver $500 payments promised by the governor, new requests for food stamps and over 130,000 pending unemployment requests. Cruz and other mayors have had to rely on religious and community leaders to hand out food to citizens in need, she said. Continue reading.