GOP lawmakers have proposed a $600 billion stimulus package, and there are three ways this potential bill would change the next stimulus check payments. The new Republican proposal comes as a counter to Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, providing new $1,400 stimulus payments to Americans. As Biden has previously explained, he chose this amount due to it equaling $2,000 when paired with the $600 payments Americans received from the second stimulus bill in December.
The GOP proposal does not provide for checks in this amount, however, offering instead just $1,000 per American, according to C-Net. This is, of course the first big change that the Republican proposal would bring. The next notable change is that Republicans want to lower the maximum qualifying income limit on the payments. Under their plan, only Americans making $50,000 per year or less — and couples earning $100,000 or less — would qualify for the payments. Finally, the third big change the GOP proposal makes is that it cuts the amount provided for dependents to $600, instead of an equal $1,000.
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Some Americans would also receive less than the full amount, depending on their adjusted gross income. These changes ultimately mean that few Americans will qualify for the payments, which is essentially what lawmakers mean when they say they support a “targeted” stimulus bill. The explanation most commonly provided is that they want the money to get into the hands of Americans who they believe need it most, based on financial calculations and statistics.
President Biden is pushing a $1.9 trillion stimulus. “The risk is not that it is too big, this package,” the White House press secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of Biden’s meeting on Monday with Republican senators. “The risk is that it is too small.” https://t.co/Mk8Ntn7UEP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 1, 2021
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are hoping to push Biden’s proposal through with or without Republican support. The first step they have taken is filing a joint budget resolution. Forbes explains that this is a “special legislative process that could ultimately allow Democrats to pass President Joe Biden‘s massive stimulus plan without any Republican votes.”
In a joint statement, Schumer and Pelosi said, “With this budget resolution, the Democratic Congress is paving the way for the landmark Biden-Harris coronavirus package that will crush the virus and deliver real relief to families and communities in need.” They added, “We are hopeful that Republicans will work in a bipartisan manner to support assistance for their communities, but the American people cannot afford any more delays and the Congress must act to prevent more needless suffering.”
