Legislators have a chance to pass a new stimulus check. Time is running out for the U.S. government to approve a new coronavirus relief package that includes a second stimulus check. However, citizens waiting for support remain trapped in limbo.
Lawmakers may still pass a reduced stimulus bill since they resumed work on Monday, November 30, but most economic experts believe it is unlikely to match the aid provided by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that was signed in March and allocated $1,200 checks to most Americans.
However, there is still reason for optimism. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said Monday that “there is no reason why we should not deliver another large pandemic aid package to help the American people through what appear to be the last chapters of this battle.
A new stimulus check by the end of the year?
Democrats and Republicans continue to have funding differences, and if Congress passes an aid bill early next month, it could take weeks for the IRS to electronically deposit funds into citizens’ bank accounts and mail millions of paper checks. It took most Americans between one and three months to get the first Economic Impact Payment after the bill became law this spring.
At least 12 million people are expected to lose unemployment benefits along with hundreds of eviction moratoriums the day after Christmas. In addition, the number of Americans applying for unemployment assistance increased for the second week in a row, a sign that the economic recovery is slowing down.
Experts believe that Congress is more likely to focus on passing legislation to fund the federal government after Dec. 11 by avoiding a government shutdown, while other economists believe Congress should pass a smaller stimulus package earlier this year, according to CBS News.
Nancy Vanden Houten, a senior economist at Oxford Economics, says fiscal relief that is unlikely to be significant in the short term “will end several social security programs that will affect millions of households across the country,” the report says.
Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, is expected to push for the passage of a stimulus bill, but it will have to be until after Inauguration Day.
Although more than 160 million Americans received the stimulus payment since March it helped keep many families out of poverty as millions lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
For many, that $1,200 check is over. As the number of coronavirus cases increases, a group of 127 economists has asked lawmakers to approve a new round of checks, arguing that they are “one of the fastest, fairest and most effective ways to get families and the economy back on track.