Ok, in case you haven’t heard:
President Biden promised to get more relief to Americans quickly to help people survive financially until the pandemic is under control. A key part of Biden’s proposal is to send another round of cash payments directly to U.S. households.
Some economists, Republicans and moderate Democrats have argued that this third round of “economic impact payments” — more commonly referred to as “stimulus checks” or “relief payments” — should go only to the hardest-hit families. Some say the payments are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress argue a third round of stimulus checks is necessary to ensure people who have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut still have enough money to buy food, pay rent and get the medical care they need during a pandemic. But the White House has signaled the president is willing to narrow who gets them, sending checks only to low- and moderate-income families this time around.
The latest proposal Democrats are considering would send $1,400 payments to individuals earning $50,000 or less and $2,800 to married couples earning $100,000 or less. Below are more details on the latest plan, which has not been publicly released yet and could still change.
Along with U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D. WV) and Angus King (I. ME), here are the other co-sponsors:
The Manchin amendment passed by a vote of 99-1 as part of the "vote-a-rama" on Thursday, as part of the budget vehicle Democrats are using to pass a bill without requiring GOP support. But that was not an indicator of agreement — after all, senators define "upper-income" differently.
Apart from Manchin and King, the Democratic co-sponsors were Jon Tester of Montana, Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, and Mark Warner of Virginia.
The amendment comes after Biden told Democrats in a Wednesday call that he won't compromise on the $1,400 amount for payments, because he's "not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people." But he opened the door to adjusting the income levels.
FYI:
While Biden suggested he would be OK with targeting the payments, many Democrats are not.
“There’s a real sense that there’s real consequences of going small, there’s real consequences of allowing stalling,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said of the idea of using lower income levels to determine who would be eligible for the payments. Wyden is the incoming Senate Finance Committee chairman.
Other Democrats have expressed support for sticking with the income levels used to determine who received the first two direct payment checks.
“Congress must pursue a bold and robust course of action. It makes no sense to pinch pennies,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Monday.
This is good but it’s always a good idea to let your Democratic Senator know you support Senator Wyden and Schumer’s stance on this. If you need a great list of talking points, kos has a great piece in the rec list to use.
Click here to contact your Democratic Senator and let them know you reject “targeted checks” or “means testing”. Give everyone a check.