Stimulus Check: Americans Respond to Relief Plan Not Being Included in $900B Proposal

Americans across the country are speaking out after a newly unveiled $908 billion relief bill did [...]

By Allison Schonter

Americans across the country are speaking out after a newly unveiled $908 billion relief bill did not include a second round of stimulus checks. The bill was unveiled Tuesday amid the ongoing legislative stalemate on Capitol Hill regarding another relief bill and came nine months after the first stimulus bill, the CARES Act, which included the first round of payments, was signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The bipartisan bill, totaling more than $900 billion, includes several provisions that both sides had supported and included in previous proposals. The bill includes $288 billion in small business aid such as Paycheck Protection Program loans, $16 billion for vaccine distribution, testing, and contact tracing, $82 billion for schools, and $45 billion for transportation. It also seeks to provide $160 billion in state and local government relief, which many Republicans have opposed, as well as $180 billion to fund a $300 per week supplemental unemployment benefit through March, despite many Democrats having long pushed for a renewal at $600 per week.

Notably absent from the bill, however, was a second round of stimulus payments, something Americans have long called on Congress to pass. The first round of direct payments, totaling approximately $1,200, began being distributed in April, meaning Americans have now gone eight months without another payment amid a pandemic and unprecedented economic crisis. News that the newest proposal did not include funding for additional checks immediately sparked outrage.

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