The checks belong to the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion bill that was recently passed by the Senate on Saturday.
What We Know:
- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has not yet indicated exactly when those payments could be distributed. According to sources, $1.1 trillion of the bill’s budget will be used this year and $459 billion in 2022. A new Quinnipiac poll reveals 68% of U.S adults favor the bill and 24% oppose it. Other details surrounding the bill include payments up to $1,400 per person, $300-per-week in jobless benefits through the summer, and a child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year.
- Democrats believe a $110 billion temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) policy will assist in cutting child poverty in half. Nearly 11 million children in the U.S are currently living in poverty. The expansion of CTC is currently a part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The original bill increased credit from $2,000 to $3,000 ($3,600 for children under age 6) and made it fully refundable.
- Last week, Mitt Romney revealed a plan to replace the Child Tax Credit policy with The Family Security Act. His plan would allot monthly payments of $350 to parents with young children and $250 for school-age kids. Romney’s program would be funded by cutting other programs Democrats want to preserve.
- Democrats and Republicans both appear to have citizens’ interests as a priority, however, Biden’s American Rescue Plan cost is nearly one-tenth of the entire U.S economy. Republican representative Steve Scalise remarks, “You can’t keep adding mountains of debt at hundreds of billions at a time.” In a counter-attempt, 11 Republican senators proposed a $650 billion stimulus bill of their own. Republicans believe Biden hasn’t justified the need for spending the amount of money in his plan. Democrats previously wanted $3 trillion for the covid relief bill in 2020.
A study from the Tax Policy Center project that some incomes of earners will increase to 20% as a result of the passing bill.
