More stimulus checks could be coming — but they might be sent to fewer people this time
Americans should expect another aid package to help with the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic by the end of July, Congressional leaders have said, but it’s still unclear if that package will include stimulus checks and increased payments to the unemployed.
Congress passed an aid package in March that gave $1,200 stimulus payments to Americans who made $75,000 and less and increased unemployment benefits by $600 per week through the end of July.
Now, it’s been months since most Americans received their first stimulus payment and the increased unemployment payments are about to end.
Senate Republicans — as well as President Donald Trump — say more aid is needed.
They’ve been supportive of more stimulus payments, though it’s unclear if they’re trying to narrow who can receive them. They’ve been less outwardly supportive of increased unemployment, which they’ve worried is encouraging people to go on unemployment even if they’re able to work.
“We are working on another stimulus package, and that will take place … very soon,” Trump told the news organization Nexstar on Tuesday.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed another $3 trillion aid package in May that would prove another stimulus payment and extended increased unemployment payments until January 2021.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, made clear that he had no interest in considering that package.
Now, McConnell says he wants to pass $1 trillion in additional aid by the end of July. He wants that to include limited liability protection for businesses, health-care providers, universities and schools for how they handled the coronavirus pandemic, to prevent an “epidemic of lawsuits.” Democrats have so far opposed that sort of protection.
Meanwhile, McConnell has said stimulus payments “could well” be a part of the next package. Trump has repeatedly said he is supportive of passing another round of checks.
But McConnell has suggested that stimulus payments are most helpful to a more limited population than those earning $75,000 and less, though it’s unclear if he means any future payments should be further capped than the original payments.
“I think the people who’ve been hit the hardest are people who make about $40,000 a year or less,” McConnell told reporters earlier this week. McConnell’s office did not comment on the record about what he specifically meant by that statement.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office also did not return a request for comment on the stimulus payments.
McConnell has been even less forthcoming about extending unemployment payments.
Senior Republicans and Trump’s administration have argued the increased payments have motivated people to not work — and therefore they need to be scaled back if not eliminated — while Democrats have argued curbing those payments would sharply reduce the income of 30 million people.
This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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