The White House has signed on to a proposal from the centrist Democrats in Congress to reduce the number of people receiving the next round of checks, per multiple reports.
According to the Associated Press and Washington Post, the next COVID-19 relief bill will differ from previous stimulus payments in that individuals who made between $ 80,000 and $ 100,000 on their most recent tax application will no longer be eligible. Previously, those earning up to $ 100,000 would be eligible for at least a portion of the payment.
The plan would also eliminate payments for couples earning more than $ 160,000, compared to $ 200,000 in previous accounts.
Despite the popularity of the bill in the ballot box, Republicans have maintained a united front against the White House’s $ 1.9 billion relief package, and it is expected to garner less than any GOP vote. A version passed by the House last week did so without Republican support.
Republicans argue that current legislation spends too much money unrelated to the purpose of the bill, and a group of more moderate GOP lawmakers have proposed a smaller $ 600 billion aid package.
Democrats’ legislation must appease all 50 of their senators to pass, and the new restrictions on who can get the relief tests are seen as a compromise with more moderate members of the caucus.
“I think we can drop it below $ 200,000 and still get households that really need it,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H., said earlier this week.
Progressive people have argued that the target of payments based on the 2019 income tax records could hurt Americans who have lost their jobs since the last filing. A Senate Finance Committee spokesman told Yahoo News that suitability depends on the timing of each individual’s final vote and tax filing, saying: ‘If you file taxes by the time a relief bill is adopted, the IRS will your 2020 income – not your income for 2019 – when you send relief payments. ”
Democrats hope the bill will be signed by March 14, when increased unemployment benefits expire. According to reports, the White House has refused to reduce payments from $ 400 a week to $ 300 a week, as moderate lawmakers have called for. The legislation is also expected to include funding for vaccine distribution, schools and state and local governments.
Bid it criticized by some on the left for what they describe as a shattered promise to send out $ 2,000 emergency tests, on which Democrats fought fiercely in the run-up to the January U.S. Senate election in Georgia. The White House says the $ 1,400 checks included in the current package amount to $ 2,000 when added to the $ 600 checks passed at the last congress in December.
With the stricter restrictions, it is likely that some Americans who received multiple assistance tests during the pandemic did not receive anything from the current Democratic package.
A survey by Yahoo News / YouGov in February found that a majority of Americans supported Biden’s proposals, with 74 percent supporting $ 2,000 checks, compared to just 13 percent against the amount. The survey also found that 58 per cent supported the increase in the minimum wage – a provision deprived of the current relief package, to the concern of progressive people – compared with 31 per cent who opposed it.
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