Is Congress Talking About A Fourth Stimulus Check
There are no signs that lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are in serious discussions about a fourth direct payment stimulus check. While there have been calls by the public and from some lawmakers for recurring payments, there has been practically nothing in terms of action.
Emails and phone calls to the White House, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., chair of the House Budget Committee, asking if such payments are under discussion were not returned.
One pandemic-related stimulus that is being considered for an extension is the monthly advance child tax credit. It raised the previous tax credit from $2,000 at tax time to $3,000-$3,600 with the option of monthly payments. A one-year extension is part of the Build Back Better bill that passed the House. But Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., announced Sunday he would not vote for it. With no Republicans on board, passage of the bill is doomed unless an alternative is found.
A group of Democrats sent a letter to Biden in back in May , but the letter did not get into specifics and nothing else came of it.
A change.org petition started by Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin in 2020 called on Congress to pass regular checks of $2,000 for adults and $1,000 for kids for the duration of the pandemic crisis.
As of late December, the petition has reached nearly 3 million signatures.
Useful Information & Links
–Why does Manchin oppose the Build Back Better bill?
– Final monthly CTC payment of 2021 sent out on Wednesday 15 December
Stimulus checks
–New parents could see another stimulus check reflected in their tax refund in 2022
–What’s the deadline to get your stimulus check plus-up payment in 2021?
Social Security
A historic number of Americans sign up for healthcare
The American Rescue Plan brought down the price of healthcare for many low-income Americans. This year a record breaking, 13.6 million, signed up for healthcare and will not have to pay a premium.
West Virginia asks Joe Manchin to support Build Back Better
After Senator Joe Manchin walked away from the negotiations over the Build Back Better bill, some in his home state, West Virginia, are urging him to return. The Hill argues that Manchin’s move to reject the bill, which would have extended the child tax credit was a mistake. “There are plenty of legislative agendas that demand political chess-play by members of Congress. This was not one of them. The child tax credit should have been extended and the refundability provision made permanent,” wrote Lyndon Haviland.
GOP gift of cancelling child tax credit
Berkeley professor and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has tweeted on Christmas Day to remind his followers of the choice Republican lawmakers made on decisions regarding the likes of Medicare and child care.
Medicare: a Biden legacy?
No Economic Recovery For Others
The pandemic has further highlighted the growing imbalance across the broader economy. While many households have financially flourished during COVID, many others have fallen behind where they were in early 2020. Much of the gap depends on whether wage earners could work remotely during the shutdown or had public-facing jobs that required them to be on-site.
Financial insecurity is still widespread, and the loss of a job and the loss of hours were some of the main reasons over the course of the pandemic. Nine percent of American adults reported a shortage of food in their household over the previous week, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census survey data from late September and early October. Approximately 16 percent of renters have fallen behind on their rent, including 23 percent of renters with children in their household. The federal eviction moratorium, which ended October 3, didnt forgive rent that was owed, it pushed the debt into the future. And evictions continued in some parts of the country regardless. Meanwhile, only a fraction of the $46 billion Congress allocated for rental assistance has actually made it to tenants and landlords. As of late September, over a quarter of American adults reported some difficulty keeping up with expenses in the prior week.
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Stimulus Update: The Push For A Fourth Stimulus Check And Who Should Get It
by Dana George | Published on Dec. 15, 2021
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For some, the fight for a fourth stimulus check continues.
Fourth Stimulus Check Update: Payments Coming In 2022 What To Expect
A new year and another new variant driving up COVID-19 infections are upon us, and with the pandemic seemingly nowhere near its end right now, many Americans are understandably concerned and worried about what it means for their future. As they face growing inflation and fears of new shutdowns, the call for stimulus aid has continued to grow.
The federal government has not signaled plans to send out any additional stimulus checks in 2022, but there will be some aid that could still happen to ease the burden families may be facing. Heres a look at every form of stimulus aid that is on tap for the new year.
Child Tax Credit
Unfortunately, the Expanded Child Tax Credit that many parents looked forward to on a monthly basis from July-December 2021 is not currently expected to happen in 2022. While a one-year extension of the credit, which saw advanced payments of $300/month for children under age 6 and $250/month for children age 6-17, was a part of President Joe Bidens proposed Build Back Better Plan, the reconciliation bill was squashed in the Senate after Senator Joe Manchin , stated he would not vote with his party to approve the legislation.
They will definitively receive the other half of the credits when they file their 2021 tax returns.
Economic Impact Statement
Experts have also warned that Americans shouldn’t expect another check because the inflation woes they are facing now can also be directly tied to the stimulus checks they already received.
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What Other Aid Is Out There
While a fourth stimulus check is improbable, more direct payments to Americans have already been signed into law. Up until Labor Day, the jobless received extended unemployment benefits. The American Rescue Plan also includes an advance Child Tax Credit.
Under the revised Child Tax Credit, the Internal Revenue Service is paying out $3,600 per year for each child up to five years old and $3,000 per year for each child ages six through 17. Monthly payments of up to $300 per child started July 15 and will continue through December of 2021. The remainder is to be issued when the recipient files their 2021 taxes. The benefit does not depend on the recipients current tax burden. In other words, qualifying families will receive the full amount, regardless of how much or little they owe in taxes. Payments start to phase out beyond a $75,000 annual income for individuals and beyond $150,000 for married couples. The more generous credit will apply only for 2021, though Biden has stated his interest in extending it through 2025.
The ARP added $21.6 billion to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which is being distributed to state and local governments, who then assist households. Most of the $46 billion total has yet to reach tenants and landlords.
A Fourth Stimulus Payment Is Currently Not In Any Proposal
Researchers have found that the first three stimulus checks helped reduce hardships like food insufficiency and financial instability. So far, during the pandemic, eligible adults have received a max of $3,200 and children have received up to $2,500. For struggling families, that’s not enough to bounce back from lost wages and benefits.
Since the American Rescue Plan, the White House has proposed several packages, including the American Jobs Plan and the Build Back Better agenda, but those don’t call for more direct aid. President Joe Biden is “open to a range of ideas” regarding stimulus aid, according to a June statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, but he already put forward what would be “the most effective for the short term.”
The scaled-back compromise of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, which was agreed to in the Senate on July 28, doesn’t include anything related to “human infrastructure” — it doesn’t address child care, improved wages or job training. Instead, those elements are to be included in the proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which is likely to be scaled back. The White House has outlined its “Build Back Better Agenda,” incorporating lower health care costs, tax cuts and investments in teachers and schools. Senate Democrats are working on the economic plan, but the process of approving final versions of the bill in Congress could take a while.
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Economic Recovery For Some
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Relief payments were intended to ease COVIDs economic impact and support the economy in the process. The third round of relief payments started back in March, courtesy of the American Rescue Plan . Over the following months, about 169 million people received up to $1,400 each. That accounted for nearly all of the $422 billion set aside. The ARP checks closely followed the $600 payments from January, which came nine months after the $1,200 payments from the pandemics early days. They seem to have worked, but have also helped many who didnt actually need the money.
In the third quarter of 2021, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.0 percent, according to the most recent estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Thats a major slowdown from the torrid pace in the second quarter, which saw 6.7 percent growth. The Conference Board forecasts continued though slower growth through the rest of the year. The countrys gross domestic product , an estimate of economic activity across the U.S., has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. By that general measure, the economy has fully recovered.
Consumer spending remains strong, with the rate up 1.7 percent in October, as compared to a 0.8 percent rise in September. Auto sales also show signs of returning, as production increases to fill the need. The increase, in general, is a positive sign for whats ahead in the holiday shopping season. Overall, goods spending remains above pre-pandemic levels.
Everything You Need To Know About The 4th Stimulus Check Some Americans Will Receive
A surprise stimulus check is on the way for some Americans that qualify.
Individuals living in California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Tennessee qualify to receive money. Under the new laws in those areas, the funds are for low-income families and people who work in the education system. Some are for first responders. .
Here is the breakdown of each state and everything you should know:
Surprise $1,000 December stimulus checks being sent
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Florida Michigan Tennessee And Georgia Are Giving $1000 To Teachers
Florida will be distributing stimulus payments in December for first responders and educators who work with students. Teachers and principals are eligible for payments of up to $1,000.
Georgia has implemented a similar policy, giving teachers and principals $1,000 in stimulus cash for their work during the pandemic.
Michigan is giving $1,000 bonuses to every full-time child care professional as part of its Child Care Stabilization Grant. Licensed child care providers are eligible to apply and should visit Michigan.gov/childcare to apply. Child care professionals will be awarded bonuses directly from their employer and do not need to apply.
Tennessee will be doling out $1,000 of hazard pay bonus to full-time teachers and $500 to part-time educators. They should expected to receive their checks before Jan. 1. The hazard pay came at the cost of an expected 2% raise that educators had been expecting in a bill passed in June.
Fourth Stimulus Check Update
Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, which created the third stimulus checks, did boost tax credits for most parents with children under 18, but only for the year 2021. Most parents and legal guardians will receive a tax credit of $3,600 for children under six, and $3,000 per child aged six through 17.
Half of that credit is coming in the form of monthly advance payments to parents beginning July 15 $300 per month for younger kids, and $250 for older ones. That’s similar to the monthly recurring checks that some legislators have called for.
The same law also retroactively exempted a large chunk of unemployment benefits paid out in 2020 from federal income tax. People who collected unemployment in 2020 and paid tax on it are getting thousands of dollars in tax-refund checks.
The American Rescue Plan Act also offers tax credits that cover all or most of the cost of a “Silver” health-insurance plan for six months under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. You’re eligible for this if you filed for unemployment benefits at any time in 2021, and if you don’t currently get health insurance through Medicare, Medicaid or someone else’s health plan.
Biden’s American Families Plan, which is separate from the American Jobs Plan, will seek to extend those tax credits, including the advance payments, through the end of 2025.
The American Families Plan would also mandate up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave and subsidies for childcare.
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Who Were The 70%
According to Eliza Forsythe, a labor economist at the University of Illinois, the reason so many people never received unemployment is not entirely clear. Some who were eligible did not realize they could apply. Some believed they were ineligible. For example, a temporarily furloughed person may not have known they were eligible for unemployment assistance.
Then some were not eligible, even though they had no chance of landing a job. They included recent college graduates and people just entering the labor market. There are also millions of people in the U.S. who have no internet connection, and with a record number of calls to state unemployment agencies, many likely gave up trying to get through.
Those who missed out on unemployment benefits may be prime candidates for additional direct stimulus funds.
Why It Could Happen: Stimulus Checks Have Been Distributed Following A Big Rise In Cases
If the situation with omicron worsens in the weeks and months to come, maybe another round of direct relief might come.
All three rounds of stimulus checks were distributed at times when there was a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.
The first stimulus check was issued in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, the second stimulus check was issued in January 2021 during the second wave, and the third stimulus check was issued in March 2021, while COVID numbers were still high and vaccines were still not available on a wide basis, according to The Motley Fool.
If the omicron variant is severe enough to warrant pandemic restrictions to be reintroduced, The White House might have to reconsider the idea of sending out more direct payments to offset the loss of income for individuals and loss of revenue for businesses.
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Which Cities Are Giving Out 4th Stimulus Checks
Thats rightcities are now getting in on the stimulus check action too . See if your town made the list:
- Chicago
Low-income residents of The Windy City have been given stimulus checks at random. You read that right. Chicago will give out $500 checks to 5,000 people each month throughout 2022. Theyll be selected at random for this stimulus lottery.19
- Los Angeles
Like Chicago, LA is handing out payments to low-income residents for a year. Their program, called BIG:LEAP, will give 3,200 randomly chosen people $1,000 each month.20
- Pittsburgh
Pittsburghs program is called the Assured Cash Experiment and gives 200 low-income residents $500 each monthfor two years. The program will spend $2.5 million on lower-income zip codes.21
- Santa Ana
The close-by neighbors of LA are getting a stimulus program of their own called the Revive Santa Ana Resident Stimulus Program. It will give out $6 million to neighborhoods that fall below the poverty level in Santa Ana. Payments of $300 will be loaded onto prepaid debit cards and given out door to door to about 20,000 residents.22
- Seattle
Seattle has one of the more generous payouts on the list. The Seattle Relief Fund is a $16 million program that gives payments of $1,0003,000 to low-income residents of the Emerald City.23
Fourth Stimulus Check Update: How To Get Payments Ranging From $1100
A fourth stimulus check may not officially be in the works from the federal government, and additional forms of financial aid due to the COVID-19 Pandemic may be mostly over, but some Americans will still see some form of an influx of cash in the form of stimulus aid during 2022.
Between different programs from states or cities and hold over money from the Expanded Child Tax Credit, some cash is still available and can be received in 2022.
Several cities have signed on to a program to help bring guaranteed income to residents facing economic uncertainty. Among them is Newark, New Jersey, where residents age 18 or older who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic and have an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, can receive either $250 bi-weekly payments or $3,000 bi-annual payments to help them. In December, the program was expanded to 400 additional residents of the city. A similar program is launching in Rochester, New York, for 175 families total, who will receive $500 monthly for one year. Spectrum local news reports that Ithaca, New York and Los Angeles also have similar programs in place.
Those who didnt receive the advanced payment could potentially get a full $3,600 credit on their taxes.
Representation. A COVID-19 stimulus check.Photo: Pixabay
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