President-elect Joe Biden won’t hold office until 21st January and questions of timing revolve around the stimulus check 2 status.
Will Donald Trump initiate proceedings on plans for the COVID relief package that consists of an extra round of relief payments before he is out of the presidency? Will it fall back to the administration of President-elect Biden to address?
Opinions Of Lawmakers Regarding Stimulus Check 2 Status
Lawmakers will return to the House this week to address the problems regarding stimulus payments. Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader(Senate) who recently got re-elected to his Senate seat in Kentucky termed the work on the stimulus check 2 status as “job one”.
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker has rejected the House’s proposal of spending $1.9 trillion and is pushing for a relief bill of $2.2 trillion. Republicans put forward a “skinny” bill of $500 billion which was dismissed with haste.
Biden talked about the outlines of his plan in his campaign. It consists of more direct ways of payment with the amounts still unclear. Trump has also been advocating for extra payments but he blamed the Democrats for stalling the initiative until the election ended.
Pelosi and Mnuchin were in negotiations on this new bill for months with the talks finally coming to an end just before the election on 3rd November.
Probable Contents Of The New Bill
According to the reports, negotiations on the stimulus check 2 status will probably resume this week. The recess of the Senate ends on Monday and recess of the House on 16th November. The relief bill will possibly include relief funds to small businesses, an extension of additional unemployment benefits, and a large scale coronavirus tracing and testing program. Both sides are in agreement with a 2nd stimulus payment, with the exact amount, timing, and qualifications of those who would receive it being unclear.
The first round of payments was in March which was the beginning of the pandemic. A total amount of $160 million was distributed to the citizens. $1200 was transferred to individuals, $2400 to married couples, and $500 to the dependent.
There is, however, no guarantee that these amounts will be included in the stimulus check 2 status. Many people are coming up with predictions of a smaller relief package as the only aid that could come out of Biden’s new administration. These predictions would be true more so, given the GOP is in control of the Senate.
Mark Haefele, CIO, UBS Wealth Management has claimed that a divided Govt. with Republicans being in control of the Senate and the Democrats in control of the House indicates that there will possibly be a lesser fiscal relief package than the package in anticipation.
