Joe Biden wants to send millions of Americans his third stimulus check – and give others the first.
The president-elect’s $ 1.9 trillion economic relief plan calls for yet another round of direct payments to help people pay the bills and support their families during the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposal would also expand eligibility for $ 1,400 checks to some people who were left out of the first two rounds of relief.
A key group are adults who can be declared dependent on other people’s income tax returns, such as college students or the elderly in the care of their adult children.
Both previous stimulus accounts that provided direct payments only allowed taxpayers to collect additional money for dependent children under the age of 17. The CARES Act last March gave families $ 500 for each eligible child more than $ 1,200 per adult, while the December $ 900 billion aid package offered $ 600 for children and adults alike.
Biden’s new plan could also provide stimulus checks to a wider range of immigrant families. The plan calls for expanding eligibility for “all mixed-status families,” a term that refers to families in which one person is a US citizen or green card holder, while others do not have legal immigration status. About 16 million people in the United States live in mixed-status families, including about 6.1 million children who are American citizens, according to the National Immigration Forum.
Last month’s stimulus project took a step in that direction by providing $ 600 in payments to US citizens married to undocumented immigrants. But the money was not available to undocumented parents of American children with a Social Security number, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Biden’s plan does not specifically say whether these families would be eligible for the $ 1,400 checks. While their language suggests that currently ineligible immigrant families would receive the funds, a Biden transition official told the Post that anyone receiving the so-called economic impact payment must have a Social Security number.
If Congress passed Biden’s plan, Americans who were eligible for all three stimulus checks would end up receiving $ 3,200 directly from the feds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You shouldn’t have to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table,” said Biden in a speech on Thursday announcing the package.
But it is likely to face resistance from Republican lawmakers who refused to accept the high prices of previous stimulus proposals. Biden may have to compromise on certain clauses with conservative senators concerned about the national debt, as the Post reported on Thursday.