Here’s an update on the second round of Stimulus checks.
Congressional negotiators are reportedly closing in on a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package that would deliver additional help to businesses, “$300 per week jobless checks, and $600 stimulus payments to most Americans.” Yet, the deal hasn’t been finalized.
Reportedly, the details are still being worked out, but lawmakers in both parties said leaders had agreed on a top-line total of about $900 billion, with direct payments of perhaps $600 to most Americans and a $300-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit to partially replace a $600-per-week benefit that expired this summer. It also includes the renewal of extra weeks of state unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless.
CBS reports, “A $908 billion bipartisan proposal initially left out stimulus payments, focusing instead on providing jobless workers with an additional $300 in weekly unemployment aid. But a last-minute addition to the package could include another round of checks, most likely at the $600 per-person level, according to a December 16 research note from Raymond James analysts.” The $600 represents half of the first round of the $1,200 payments distributed to about 160 million American consumers through the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act this spring
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, pledged to force a vote on the proposal before lawmakers adjourn for the year on December 18. Hawley said the potential for a round of checks, at $600 per adult, was a “good movement in the right direction.” But, he added, “I think it needs to be $1,200.”
We’ll keep you updated as more details unveil.