$350 Billion In Aid To State And Local Governments
Democrats conceded direct aid to states during the negotiations for the second stimulus, but with Mitch McConnell now in the Senate minority, the incoming administration has secured the option. To help keep workers employed, distribute the vaccine, and maintain government services after losing billions in tax revenue losses, Biden has secured $350 billion to state, local, and territorial governments.
Percent Coverage Of Cobra Premiums
The government will pay for all premiums of Americans who have been laid off and are relying on COBRA benefits for their health-care plans. These premiums are notoriously expensive: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the typical annual cost for individuals in 2020 was $7,470 and $21,342 for families.
Understanding The American Families Plan
While the American Jobs Plan focuses on infrastructure, construed much more widely than bridges and roads, the Families Plan focuses on steps that will support lower- and middle-income families and income-generating moves that increase taxes to fund these proposals. Here are some elements of the plan.
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To Start Verify Your Mortgage Type
The GSEs, Fannie Mae, and F.M. deal with conventional loans, FHA, VA loans. The Department of Agriculture offers USDA loans. You can see if your mortgage is owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. The federal government has encouraged all lenders to support mortgage assistance due to hardship brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. If you have a mortgage problem, contact your mortgage lender to check out the details of how much money is going to be taken from your mortgage.
Stimulus Checks: Parents Who Expanded Families In 2021 Could Be Eligible For A $5000 Payment
As the pandemic enters its third year, there appears to be little momentum for another round of stimulus checks. However, there may be payments waiting for people whose family grew in 2021.
According to a report on Nasdaq.com, folks who added a child to their family in 2021, could be in line for a $5,000 check.
The total goes back to a stimulus payment that was meant for children under the age of 6, but was never paid.
Heres how it works, according to the report.
There was a stimulus payment of $1,400 per dependent from 2021 and an expanded Child Tax Credit worth $3,600 per child for children under the age of 6. That number is $3,000 for children ages 6-to-17.
For a child born last year, he or she would count as a dependent for both the stimulus check and the Child Tax Credit. Parents who adopted a child are also eligible.
For children born in 2021, its likely the IRS wouldnt have known about the child, even though the family was eligible for the payments. They are still eligible for the payments, just in 2022.
The same is true for parents who had twins or triplets, according to the report. That family would be eligible for $10,000 or $15,000.
To receive the stimulus money, new parents only have to file their tax returns.
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Stimulus Check Scams And Hoaxes
Of course, popular demand for widely distributed stimulus payments, and the confusing political maneuvering that goes into crafting stimulus bills, creates an information gap that’s easily exploited by scammers.
Even with the first wave of stimulus checks in 2020, we saw bogus email messages that pretended to be from the IRS, promising “an important update on your Covid relief fund.” But they just took you to phishing sites that wanted your Social Security number and other sensitive bits of information.
Following the second stimulus bill at the beginning of 2021, those email phishing attempts were joined by scam phone calls demanding your personal details so that you could be “cleared” to receive more stimulus checks.
In March, as President Biden’s American Rescue Plan was making its way through Congress, new phishing emails promised the moon: a $4,000 stimulus check, a boost in the minimum wage, free meals and, best of all, priority treatment that let you skip lines at COVID-19 vaccination sites.
Most recently, cruel pranksters have been passing around posts on Facebook that a fourth stimulus check worth $2,500 is coming by the end of July. Don’t believe it, and don’t believe the phishing websites that claim to register you for child-tax-credit advance payments.
In fact, most parents and legal guardians don’t need to do anything to get the payments they’ll just show up in your mailbox or bank account.
Pandemic Aid Package Includes Some Relief From High Health Plan Premiums
Support for low-income families
The legislation includes $4.5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, to help families with home heating and cooling costs. One provision will give the agriculture secretary the authority and funding to temporarily boost the value of cash vouchers for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children up to $35 per month for women and children for a four-month period during the pandemic.
There is $1.4 billion in funding for programs authorized under the Older Americans Act, including support for nutrition programs, community-based support programs and the National Family Caregiver Support Program.
The bill provides $37 million to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for low-income seniors.
Public health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to receive $7.5 billion to track, administer and distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Another $46 billion will go toward diagnosing and tracing coronavirus infections, and $2 billion will go toward buying and distributing various testing supplies and personal protective equipment.
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What About Money For Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution
More than 161 million vaccine doses have so far been administered in the US — and over 207 million distributed. More than a month early, the country reached Biden’s goal of 100 million jabs during the first 100 days of his administration , with a new goal of 200 million shots in the first 100 days.
The president’s plans set aside $160 billion for a nationwide vaccine program that’s been helping state and local governments get the vaccine into people’s arms.
A Look At The $19 Trillion American Rescue Plan Act That President Biden Has Signed Into Law
President Biden signed the coronavirus relief bill into law, marking his first major legislative victory in office.
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act includes measures ranging from stimulus checks to child tax credits, jobless benefits to vaccine-distribution funds, healthcare subsidies to restaurant aid.
The legislation is the largest aid package to pass since widespread restrictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.
Total bill amount, by iteration
Breakdown of the $1.9 trillion 2021 stimulus bill
Grants
Grants for child care providers and Head Start
$194
$1,400 per person stimulus checks
$143 billion
Grants to restaurants, bars that lost revenue due to the pandemic
$25 billion
Total bill amount, by iteration
Breakdown of the $1.9 trillion 2021 stimulus bill
Grants
Grants for child care providers and Head Start
$176 billion
$1,400 per person stimulus checks
$143 billion
Grants to restaurants, bars that lost revenue due to the pandemic
$25 billion
Total bill amount, by iteration
Breakdown of the $1.9 trillion 2021 stimulus bill
Grants
Grants for child care providers and Head Start
OTHER
Grants to restaurants, bars that lost revenue due to the pandemic
$25 billion
Total bill amount, by iteration
Breakdown of the $1.9 trillion 2021 bill
AGRICULTURE
Whats Different?
Deficit impact in select policy areas, by bill iteration
STIMULUS CHECKS
Earned Income Tax Credit
$143 billion
Andrew Duehren contributed to this article.
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Is There Hope For A Fourth Stimulus Check
Because the Democrats spread out the payments for the child tax credit, that may inhibit the opportunity to get a fourth stimulus check passed for the masses. But this also can depend on what state you live in. There are opportunities to get up to $3,000 if you live in certain states.
California has sent out Golden State stimulus checks for $600. Recipient households must earn between $30,000 to $75,000 to get the checks, and households with children can get an extra $500. Vermont is sending out reimbursement grants to frontline workers who move to the state. New Mexico is hooking up residents who may not have been eligible for the first three stimulus checks. Missouri took care of state corrections officers, boosting each of their salaries.
Those are just some of the states that are helping out residents. So consider which stimulus checks youve received and keep tabs on all that is being given out.
Andy is a reporter in Memphis who also contributes to outlets like Fast Company and The Guardian. When hes not writing about technology, he can be found hunched protectively over his burgeoning collection of vinyl, as well as nursing his Whovianism and bingeing on a variety of TV shows you probably dont like.
Expanded Child Tax Credit
The American Rescue Plan Act increases the Child Tax Credit maximum to $3,000 a year for each child ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 for each child under age 6, for couples who make $150,000 or less and single parents who make $112,500 or less. Payments will be sent by direct deposit on a monthly basis, according to current language.
A family with one child under age 6 would receive $300 per month and $250 per month for children ages 6 to 17. The law provides for one year of credit payments. The idea behind regular payments is to help families pay for ongoing costs instead of claiming a credit when they file their taxes. The credit is refundable, meaning everyone who qualifies will get it no matter their tax situation.
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Presidential Dispute And Signing
Trump was largely absent from the final series of negotiations on the pandemic relief and omnibus legislation, as he had been focusing almost exclusively on promoting his false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him. Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other Trump administration officials were involved in the negotiations at each stage and expressed support for the final deal.
In a video released on the evening of December 22, a day after the bill’s passage, Trump indicated his dissatisfaction with the bill, calling it a “disgrace” and criticizing it for including what he called “wasteful and unnecessary” spending and not enough pandemic relief, calling the $600 individual payments “ridiculously low”. Trump’s last-minute statement shocked Congress and surprised administration officials, including Mnuchin, who was heavily involved in the negotiations. In the video, Trump complained about various spending line items in the bill for not being related to COVID-19, but these expenditures were part of the regular annual appropriations, not the COVID-19 stimulus portion of the bill. Moreover, the budget items that Trump complained about were part of Trump’s own budget proposal for the year, and were similar to budget provisions in previous budgets signed by Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that, if Trump vetoed the bill, the Senate was prepared to convene on December 29 for an override vote.
Covid Stimulus Faqs: What Wedding Pros Need To Know
Wedding and small business owners across the country have been anxiously awaiting additional support from the government and now that both the American Rescue Plan Act and Consolidated Appropriations Act are law, it can be hard to know whats applicable to you and your business. Sure, there has been a lot of news coverage about it, but between the ARP being more than 600 pages on its own, and trying to figure out what you need to pay attention to requires time you likely dont have. So, we chatted with Lisa Haffer, tax partner at BDO , to hone in on key provisions in both so you can more easily understand the stimulus. Read on to see the frequently asked questions as well as how important takeaways might affect your wedding business.
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Understanding The American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the latest stimulus package to be considered by Congress during the COVID-19 pandemic, follows in the wake of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 and the nearly $900 billion stimulus included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, passed in December 2020. The Act extends some aspects of those bills while also creating new recovery strategies.
State And City Stimulus
Some states have also conducted stimulus payments, with many using funds from the Rescue Act.
Some states include California and Maine.
Under Californias Golden State Stimulus II program, it is estimated that a total of nine million Californians will be getting checks worth up to $1,100 before the end of the year.
The latest set of payments, which started going out on Monday, includes 794,000 paper checks worth more than $568million, the states public affairs office told The Sun.
Eligible Maine residents will continue to receive $285 stimulus payments until the years end.
Another city in California, Santa Ana, has started sending out $300 payments loaded on prepaid Visa debit cards.
“So far about 2,700 have been distributed and we plan to give out up to the full 20,000 cards either in person or notifying qualified residents by mail to pick them up,” a Santa Ana official told The Sun.
According to a statement by the city, those with poverty rates above the Santa Ana median of 42% will qualify for the support.
Also, thousands of St Louis, Missouri residents will be able to apply for $500 stimulus payments this weekend.
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Child Tax Credit And Childcare Services
The bill considers an expanded child tax credit of up to $3,000 per child, or $3,600 for each child under the age of six. The IRS will pay part of this in monthly installments of $250 or $300 from July through December, adding a benefits distributor role to the revenue collection agencys responsibilities .
This one-year expansion would represent near $109 billion as reported by Reuters here , or 5.7%. The bill also includes about $55 billion to be spent on childcare programs and $1 billion for the early learning Head Start program .
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Industry support
There’s a variety of provisions in the legislation to offer support to different industries. The Small Business Administration will get $25 billion for a new grant program for “restaurants and other food and drinking establishments.” Grants will be up to $10 million per entity and $5 million per physical location, with a maximum of 20 locations. The legislation sets aside $5 billion of the total money to be targeted to businesses with less than $500,000 in revenue in 2019.The legislation includes another $1.25 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program.
To support the transportation sector, the legislation allocates nearly $30 billion for transit costs, including payroll and personal protective equipment $8 billion for airports $3 billion for a temporary payroll support program to help support the aerospace manufacturing industry and $1.5 billion to recall and pay Amtrak employees who were furloughed because of the pandemic and to restore various daily routes. Another $15 billion will also be allocated to support workers in the airline industry.
Rental assistance
There is $25 billion for emergency rental assistance, including $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers for people experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence and victims of human trafficking.
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A Proposal To Use Infrastructure Investments To Create Millions Of New Jobs
President Joe Bidens $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, unveiled on March 31, 2021, proposes a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and jobs investment over eight years, paid for with what the administration calls a Made in America Corporate Tax Reform Plan over the next decade and a half.
The biggest chunk, $1.3 trillion, would go toward infrastructure spending on two fronts: transportation and community. The balance, more than $980 billion, would involve investments in research and development , workforce development, manufacturing, and eldercare.
What follows is a breakdown of proposed spending before negotiations between Republicans and Democrats begin in earnest.
Second Round Of Direct Payments: December 2020
The second round of aid, a $900 billion package which was part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 was signed off by Trump on 27 December 2020. It provided a one-off check of up to $600, but this time, households were also able to claim an additional $600 for child dependents aged 16 or under. Those who earned under $75,000 in the 2019 tax year received the full stimulus check, while a steadily smaller figure was given to those on a higher annual income, up to a maximum phase-out limit of $87,000. The first payments, through direct deposit and paper checks with some later payments made by EIP 2 Cards, were issued between 29 December 2020 and 15 January 2021.
Those who didnt receive a stimulus payment either through the CARES Act or the December Covid-19 Relief bill were able to claim for it retroactively when they filed their federal tax returns for 2020 through the IRS Recovery Rebate Credit.
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Additional Programs And Extensions
In addition to all funding above, the stimulus extended the Coronavirus Relief Fund created by the CARES Act and the Employee Retention Tax Credit. It also provided a special lookback for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for low-income individuals and provided a Contractor Pay Extension, allowing federal agencies to reimburse contractors for the cost of paid leave during the COVID pandemic.
It also extended to 2021 two charitable donation benefits that had been introduced for the 2020 tax year by the CARES Act:
- Taxpayers may continue to deduct charitable donations of up to 100% of their adjusted gross income .
- Individual taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions and take the standard deduction are allowed up to a $300 deduction for charitable cash contributions. Added by the Consolidated Appropriations Act: Married couples filing jointly who don’t itemize can deduct up to $600, but the deduction is no longer above-the-line, as it was for 2020.