President Joe Biden’s administration is ready to process the third $1,400 stimulus check, the flagship program of the U.S. Rescue Plan, and will do so as soon as possible, according to federal officials.
After the House of Representatives approved the $1.9 billion package, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her agency is fine-tuning the details to implement the aid as soon as possible.
“Our Treasury team will do everything we can to accelerate the recovery,” Yellen said. “We are ready to get to work on implementing the measures in the rescue plan, including the economic impact payments.
He added that his work also includes the implementation of child tax credits, assistance for struggling renters and homeowners, and support for state, local and tribal governments.
On Friday, President Biden will sign the plan into law to kick-start the corresponding funds.
Some experts even believe that the distribution of the $1,400 could occur as early as Friday afternoon in some cases, but projections – taking into consideration last December’s experience – estimate that the funds will cascade the following week to those who have registered a bank account number with the IRS.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged Wednesday that the Biden Administration is gearing up to speed up implementation of the law.
“(It’s) moving full speed ahead to implement the bill,” she said. “We know that all of this will not be implemented in four days or a week…This will take some time and we want to make sure there is one person responsible for implementation.”
Psaki advanced that previous experiences will allow electronic payments to be distributed quickly.
“(We will) do so with lessons learned from previous rounds to increase the number of households that will receive electronic payments, which are substantially faster than checks,” he said.
Also, the extension of the unemployment insurance bonus will be implemented immediately, in order to prevent people from not receiving the additional $300 per week.
What to consider
The following timeline shows a possible path for the distribution of the stimulus check and the unemployment bonus:
- March 15-19: Those who reported a valid bank account number will get the $1,400 deposit per person or $2,800 per couple, plus funds per child ($1,400 each).
- March 16: Check printing will begin.
- March 21 – Unemployment insurance bonus could include the $300 bonus.
- March 22-26: Debit cards could be printed.
- April: Most of the beneficiaries would have received their aid.
- May – Those without bank accounts or a fixed address may receive their benefits as late as this month.
- IMPORTANT: The dates for printing checks and debit cards must be added to the time needed for the USPS to deliver the envelopes to homes, which could be between one and two weeks.