After Marissa Ortega heard that Senate Democrats may restrict who can receive the $ 1400 incentive payment in the U.S. bailout plan, Marissa Ortega’s heart dropped.
The 25-year-old Washington DC resident planned to use the money to rebuild her savings account after supporting her mother, grandmother and aunt over the past year. Ortega earned a lot of money as a software engineer and did not lose a job during the pandemic. But she had to send thousands of dollars to her family members – the three women who raised Ortega live in the same house in Texas – to help them with their own financial problems related to Covid.
She’s one of the many Americans who’s frustrated because the Senate could change the $ 1,400 stimulus payment income limit. The bill passed by the House completely phases out direct payments for individuals earning $ 100,000 or more in adjusted gross income (AGI) per year, $ 120,000 for single parents and $ 200,000 for couples (who would receive $ 2,800) . The senate is reportedly changing the limit so that no individual earning more than $ 80,000 and no couple earning more than $ 160,000 will receive one.
The result: It is estimated that 12 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer children are eligible for the third stimulus payment. And an estimated $ 12 billion has been shaved off the $ 1.9 billion relief bill.
The lower income limit for receiving the full amount – up to $ 75,000 for individuals, $ 112,500 for single parents and $ 150,000 for couples – currently remains the same. This is reportedly the second time Democrats have debated lowering the revenue thresholds for the third direct payment. Ortega says it would be a mistake.
“It may not seem like it hurts people with a higher income, but there are a ton that an income just doesn’t tell you,” Ortega says. “I know I’m not the only one who has added expenses to the pandemic.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the changes in a news conference Thursday, saying 98% of Americans who received the second incentive payment still qualify for the third, a claim backed by estimates from the Penn -Wharton budget model. She also said that the $ 1400 check will make many families significantly more money than the $ 600 payments. Of course, the latter point would apply if the income limit remained the same.
Ortega, however, says President Joe Biden is withholding his promise to send $ 2,000 checks to financially struggling Americans.
“Now it’s not $ 2,000 anymore, but $ 1,400,” she says. “And now they’re changing the limit and changing who gets it. Is that the same check? It’s clear.”
‘A slap in the face’
Heather Jackson, 42, also lost no income during the pandemic and will still qualify for the payment, but says the cut is arbitrary and hurts families like her. Jackson has seven children and is worried about other parents just above the income threshold.
The Indiana resident says the cost of childcare for many families rose during the pandemic, as did the cost of basic goods. It does not make sense for a couple without children and an income of $ 150,000 to receive $ 2,800, while a couple with dependents who earn a little over $ 160,000 get nothing, she says.
Anyone with children who meet the income admission requirements will receive $ 1400 for each dependent child, as well as each adult who is dependent.
Rosemarie McKinney, 52, says the change is similar to a “slap in the face” for middle-class Americans who do not qualify for other public assistance such as SNAP benefits, but who had to pay for food and other necessities during the pandemic dock. .
“I definitely do not want to be seen as resentful of people with limited resources,” said McKinney, who lives in New York State. ‘But limiting the threshold of those who would be eligible for this stimulus is just ridiculous with all the pork spending [toward] special ‘projects’. “
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