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Stimulus Check Update: Republicans Reportedly Want To Cut Unemployment Benefit From $600 to $200

Stimulus Check Update: Republicans Reportedly Want To Cut Unemployment Benefit From $600 to $200

Hot97 Staff
07/27/2020 12:00 AM EDT
The second round of stimulus checks could be here by the end of August, according to reports.A $1 trillion coronavirus relief package was released Monday afternoon (July 27) by Republicans in the senate. This includes a cut of $400 to the enhanced unemployment benefit for Americans out of work from the Covid-19 crisis. The $600 unemployment benefit that was originally included in the original CARES Act will expire on July 31.

According to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, instead of offering $600 a week in extra unemployment benefits, the Republican bill would ensure that workers get 70% of their regular pay.

“The original unemployment benefits actually paid people to stay home and actually a lot of people got more money staying at home than they would be going back to work,” Meadows said on ABC’s This Week. “So the president has been very clear, our Republican senators have been very clear, we’re not going to extend that provision.”

House Democrats voted in May to keep the $600 payments through Jan. 31, 2021, but President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the legislation.

“They’re resenting $600 for single moms to be able to put food on the table," House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on CBS this weekend. "For dads to maintain the dignity of keeping their families intact, and with unemployment insurance, with assistance for rent, with food. This is an emergency that maybe they don’t understand. I don’t know what they have against working families in America.”

As far as the second round of stimulus checks, we previously reported, that President Trump gave an update about the possibility of receiving a second stimulus check and when people should expect to receive it.“We will be doing another stimulus package,” he said. “It’ll be very good, it’ll be very generous. I think over the next…, I think it’s going to be bi-partisan, I think it’s going to be bi-partisan, I think it’s going to be over a couple of weeks, probably.”Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he would like to finalize the legislation by July 31.Back in March, the first stimulus payments were approved by congress which included $1,2o0 payments to most Americans, $2,400 per married couple, and an extra $500 for each child claimed under 17-years-old. One difference in this possible bill is that those dependents over 17-years-old would now qualify for the extra money."The check is there," White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Sunday on CNN. "The reemployment bonus is there. The retention bonus is there. There will be breaks for small tax credits for small businesses and restaurants. That's all going to be there."According to reports, "the Senate Republican proposal will sit around $1 trillion and include $105 billion for schools, the second round of direct payments to individuals and families, $16 billion in new money for testing, a second, more targeted round of forgivable small business loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, a myriad of tax incentives for employers to rehire, retain and retrofit their offices for employees."An expected timeline for the checks to come in August, but will all depend on how fast Senate and Congress can come to a bipartisan agreement that will be signed by President Donald Trump. For many, those extra benefits will run out on July 31.We'll keep you updated as more news, and updates about the 2nd round of Stimulus checks comes forward.