Fourth stimulus check: What’s pushing for more payments? What’s holding it back?
FILE – This May 8, 2008, file photo shows blank checks on an idle press at the Philadelphia Regional Financial Center, which disburses payments on behalf of federal agencies in Philadelphia. Officials at the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday, March 12, 2021 that processing the new round of stimulus payments has already begun, with the aim of having the first payments start showing up in bank accounts this weekend. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
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(WJW) — While lawmakers are considering a fourth round of stimulus checks that would lead to recurring payments until the pandemic ends, there are forces behind it and also some that might hinder it.
Taking a look back over the last year or so, the federal government has assisted Americans during the pandemic with $3,200 to each eligible adult; $1,200 under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act in March 2020, and $1,400 under the American Rescue Plan.
The latest economic boost, Child Tax Credit payments, is where eligible families can receive as much as $3,600 for each child under the age of 6. The advance tax credit payments will be $3,000 annually per child between the ages of 6 and 17.
The first of six monthly payments started July 15 for those who qualify for the Child Tax Credit.
A Change.org petition, started by restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin more than a year ago, calls for targeted stimulus money.
“It took nine months for Congress to send a second stimulus check, and just moments to spend it. Moving forward Congress needs to make recurring checks automatic if certain triggers are met. No more waiting around for our government to send the help we need. Sign to join our movement to get recurring checks to the people,” Bonin wrote.
But the federal government’s eyes, and money, might be shifting somewhere else.
A White House press release says that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan currently on the table in Washington D.C. promises clean transportation, clean water, universal broadband, clean power, remediation of legacy pollution, and resilience to the changing climate.
The plan also invests two-thirds of the resources that Biden proposed in his American Jobs Plan.
The White House says it believes the plan will help millions of Americans by creating jobs and economic growth.
