Will Americans get a second stimulus check? Here’s what we do — and don’t — know
A moratorium on evictions and a $600 unemployment boost spurred by the coronavirus pandemic are set to expire soon — but are Americans any closer to a second round of economic relief payments?
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are poised to unveil a $1 trillion economic relief package on Thursday modeled after the first CARES Act, which allocated funding for unemployment benefits, stimulus checks and small business loans, media outlets report.
But the latest iteration could look a little different.
CARES II, as it’s been called, is said to include unemployment benefits, funding for schools to reopen as well as coronavirus testing — and a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, the Associated Press reported.
President Donald Trump had initially pushed for a payroll tax cut instead of direct payments to individual Americans.
The tax cut would have temporarily suspended or reduced the amount of payroll taxes — typically used to fund government programs such as Social Security and Medicare — deducted from workers’ paychecks, CNBC reported. But both Republicans and Democrats opposed the idea.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters outside the White House on Thursday a tax cut would not be part of CARES II, Reuters reported.
“One of the problems with the payroll tax cut is it takes time, so we are much more focused right now on the direct payments,” Mnuchin said, according to Reuters.
Instead, he said there “could be CARES 5.0.,” Politico reported.
Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have reportedly agreed on another round of $1,200 direct payments, according to the news organization Nextar.
But McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, has pushed to restrict those who qualify to workers earning less than $40,000, The Sacramento Bee reported. The first round of checks went to individuals earning less than $75,000 and couples earning less than $150,000.
“Such a move would dramatically reduce the number of Americans who would be eligible,” according to CNBC.
Republicans are trying to keep the cost of a second coronavirus relief package low, The Washington Post reported.
McConnell’s plan caps the government’s spending at $1 trillion — a far cry from the $3 trillion Heroes Act House democrats previously passed, according to Forbes.
The package includes several different facets beyond individual stimulus checks, meaning the final numbers “may not be determined until lawmakers reach the end of their negotiations,” Mark Mazur, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told CNBC.
Nextar reported that might not be until August.
Once it passes, CNBC reported stimulus checks “could reach some people more quickly this time, now that the government is working to address the kinks in the first round of checks.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Will Americans get a second stimulus check? Here’s what we do — and don’t — know."
