Many throughout the United States have received or will soon receive stimulus checks as part of the government’s response to COVID.
See all the details of the first 2020 stimulus check here.
If you haven’t received your stimulus check yet, you can check the status of it using the IRS “Get My Payment” tool.
With the checks being $1,200 per eligible adult and $500 for each eligible child (16 and under), many are wondering if there will be a second stimulus check for COVID?
It’s a valid question. It doesn’t take an economist to realize that $1,200 doesn’t go that far (unless your name is Steven Mnuchin and you are Secretary of the Treasury, who recently said $1,200 would last ten weeks). Heck, depending on where you live and what sort of financial situation you are in, even $2,900 in a household of two adults and one child doesn’t go that far.
There is also the issue of many college students being left out of the first stimulus check. If a college student is claimed as a dependent on their parent’s taxes, there is no stimulus check allocated to them.
Over 30 million applied for unemployment benefits since COVID took hold in the United States. As we explain in our post on COVID unemployment benefits, there is the extra $600 federal unemployment benefit on top of the state unemployment benefit. But again, that only goes so far, and there is limited employment opportunities right now.
All this leads to a reasonable conclusion that millions of Americans likely agree that additional direct payments, including a second stimulus check, to Americans is needed. But taking that concept to reality is more difficult.
What Has the President and Congress Said about a Second Stimulus Check?
Traditionally Republicans have been fiscally conservative, and sending checks to Americans doesn’t really align with that political philosophy. They may see the combination of unemployment benefits and stimulus checks as incentive for people not to work. This begs the question of whether they will get on board with a second stimulus check that would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
With that being said, government leaders have indicated a second stimulus check is on the table, including President Trump.
At a news conference on Monday April 5th Trump said:
“We could very well do a second round of direct (payments),” he told a news conference. “It is absolutely under serious consideration.”
In a conference call with Democrats, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the next stimulus bill will be at least another $1 trillion with additional direct payments to individuals.
Pelosi said there should be additional direct payments to individuals, extended unemployment insurance, more resources for food stamps and more funds for the Payroll Protection Plan that provides loans to small businesses, lawmakers on the call said.
A group of 62 Congressional members have officially stated their support for making monthly payments recurring for the duration of the crisis.
It’s also worthwhile noting that the concept of direct payments from the federal government to Americans has never been closer to the mainstream than it is today. Thank former 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang for that, whose campaign focused on Universal Basic Income, or UBI as it is commonly referred to.
The Next Round of Stimulus
On Friday, April 24th, President Trump signed into law another round of economic relief totaling $484 Billion. Unfortunately for those who would benefit from a second stimulus check, this aid package does not include a second stimulus check for COVID. What it includes is:
- $321 billion for Paycheck Protection Program
- $60 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loan
- $75 billion for hospitals
- $25 billion for testing
The Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, was included in the CARES Act and provided $349B of relief to small businesses. This funding ran out on Thursday April 16th, leaving many businesses out in the cold. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, was also included in the CARES Act to provide small businesses relief.
$2,000 a Month Stimulus Check Proposal
Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) have introduced legislation, called the Emergency Money for the People Act – that would provide monthly payments until employment reaches pre-COVID levels. Specifically, eligible Americans would receive $2,000 in cash each month for at least six months, and would continue until the employment to population ratio for people 16 and older is greater than 60%. The payments would not count as income and
Here is who would be eligible:
- Those 16 and older earning less than $130k annually would receive $2,000 a month
- Married couples earnings less than $260k annually would receive $4,000 a month
- In addition to the funds already mentioned, qualifying families with children would receive $500 per child, up to a maximum of three children.
- In contrast to the first stimulus check, this proposal would include college students and adults with disabilities who are claimed as a dependent.
If this legislation made it through the House and Senate it almost certainly would look a little different. For example, it could be another one-time payment instead of a recurring monthly payment.
Additional Recent Updates
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said at the very beginning of May that another round of economic stimulus may not be necessary. But at the same time he said that unemployment might reach 19% and GDP loss for the second quarter could be as high as 40%. Not to mention negotiations are already taking place for another round of economic relief.
State relief has come into focus. The current issue at the forefront is how much relief states should receive from the federal government. President Trump has hinted at states potentially needing to go bankrupt instead of receiving federal aid, a prospect that – not surprisingly – elicited a strong reaction from Governors.
President Trump has made the payroll tax cut a requirement for the next economic stimulus bill. But Senator Chuck Grassley didn’t seem to think much of the ultimatum, and is concerned that the tax cut could drain retirement funds or leave older Americans with the view that Congress doesn’t take ‘seriously’ the plight of the Social Security Trust Fund.
All this is to say that a second stimulus check could happen, but currently hasn’t dominated conversation – at least publicly – other than Representative Tim Ryan and Ro Khanna’s proposal.
Will the Second Stimulus Check Happen?
What we know is this:
- President Trump has indicated that there is a high likelihood of a second round of direct payments.
- Nancy Pelosi has indicated a second economic aid package valued at more than $1 trillion that would include a second round of direct payments.
- Support and awareness of policy that provides direct payments to Americans has never been higher than it is today.
This all leads me to think there is a decent, though certainly not guaranteed, chance that we will see a second stimulus check for COVID. It may not be the recurring payments that some Democrat leaders are pushing for, but there likely will be a second stimulus check hitting your bank account before COVID is over.
Check out Our Other COVID Resources:
- COVID Unemployment Benefits: Everything You Need to Know
- What Is Happening To Your Student Loans During The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis
- 2020 Stimulus Check: What You Need to Know
- 20+ Ideas for Hobbies to Fill your Time
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Probably burocracy in The Us os more easy than in Italy, in my personal opinion we’d must all return at work following rules (distance, masks) Howevere this is my personal idea about it