The long-awaited third stimulus checks — for up to $1,400 — are finally headed to Americans’ bank accounts and mailboxes, after President Joe Biden last week signed his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package into law. If you need more money for bills and to pay down debt, it’s on the way.
And will that be the end? No more direct payments?
Several members of Congress are arguing for a fourth stimulus check and even more after that, because they point out that many Americans are still struggling more than a year into the pandemic.
But the Biden aid bill won passage with every Republican lawmaker voting no, and it cleared the Senate in a 51-50 squeaker, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting a tiebreaker vote. So is it realistic to hope the president will support further relief payments, and Congress will approve them? Here’s a closer look.
Democrats say families need more stimulus checks
Fifty Democratic U.S. representatives, including Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar and New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have signed a letter pressing the Biden administration to issue recurring stimulus checks to help Americans cover essential needs for the duration of the pandemic.
“One more check is not enough during this public health and economic crisis,” the letter says. It doesn’t include a suggested dollar amount for the regular payments, but Rep. Omar tweeted in January that she’d like to see the government provide $2,000 per month to carry people through the crisis.
Ten Senate Democrats have signed a similar letter. “This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads,” the senators say.
Last year’s very first, $1,200 stimulus checks were primarily spent on groceries, rent and other basic needs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The cash also was used for saving and investing, and for other expenses. Some consumers likely went shopping for affordable life insurance, because demand for those policies has surged amid the pandemic.