Stimulus checks began to arrive in Americans’ bank accounts – just days after President Joe Biden authorized them by sanctioning the American Rescue Plan.
The speed with which eligible Americans are receiving their third and biggest stimulus check so far during the coronavirus pandemic – less than two months in Biden’s presidency – is a political victory for a president who has failed to garner bipartisan support for his project, but he was still able to quickly pass a package of aid along the lines of the party.
As Emily Stewart of Vox explains, most Americans will be eligible for $ 1,400 stimulus checks:
Full checks will go to single people earning up to $ 75,000 and couples earning up to $ 150,000, and will be phased out by $ 80,000 and $ 160,000, based on the 2019 or 2020 tax returns, depending on when people filed their claims. imposed for the last time. Previous checks have been eliminated at the highest income levels, which means that some people who received checks in previous rounds will not receive them this time. However, the legislation includes checks for adult dependents, such as college students and people with disabilities, for the first time.
Biden signed the bill on Thursday, and many people began to report receiving checks by direct deposit this weekend. Several families reported seeing total deposits even on Friday – just a day after the law was signed.
The IRS said on Friday that more rounds of stimulus checks will be deposited in bank accounts in the coming weeks and sent by mail in the form of checks or debit cards. The agency also said that people can track the status of their checks using the “Get My Payment” portal.
Many Americans plan to use checks to pay for needs
The New York Times reports that Johanna Suarez, a sophomore at Houston Community College – who was eligible for her first stimulus check because adult dependents can receive them for the first time – received a check for $ 1,400 on Saturday and said she plans to use it to buy books and pay for a dental procedure.
Suarez’s plans are quite representative, according to a study by the Census Bureau Household Pulse, carried out from February 17 to March 1.
As part of its ongoing coronavirus research work, the agency asked the research group Household Pulse where people who received a check recently spent it – or, for those who did not receive it during the research period, what they planned to spend on the next check on.
Respondents were able to select more than one answer to the question, and most said the money would go to meet an essential need. The survey found about 60 percent of people who plan to use at least part of their money for food and about 45 percent plan to spend part or all of the funds on housing – rent or mortgages. Other accounts were also a priority, with 45% saying the stimulus would help pay for utilities and about 31% wanting to put money on credit cards or loans.
About 15 percent of respondents thought they could save some or all of the money. Only 2.5% said that some of the money would go to recreational expenses.
There was some debate about who needed a stimulus check before the American Rescue Plan was approved, with some lawmakers concerned that if a very large slice of the American people received the checks, those with higher incomes would not spend them. This data does not resolve the debate, but it does suggest that there is an urgent need for this money among many Americans – that people are waiting for these checks to cover basic costs, such as food and shelter, and that they are actually going to spend them.
The American Rescue Plan was exceptionally popular before it was passed by law – in part due to the overwhelming popularity of stimulus checks: a Vox / Data for Progress survey conducted in December 2020 found that 75 percent of likely voters wanted them to stimulus checks were prioritized when drafting the bill.
Checks were included, and in a survey conducted March 5-7, Data for Progress found that almost 70% of likely voters supported the project. This group of supporters included 54% of Republicans. Notably, respondents cited the provision of bill stimulus checks as one of their best aspects, according to the most recent poll: 78% of voters supported the idea of $ 1,400 checks.
It remains to be seen whether the positive perception of the law will remain constant over time, but the impression of efficiency that rapid payment delivery produces can be useful to Democrats at a time when there is widespread distrust in the federal government.