Property Search Insider: 3rd stimulus check: House passes Covid relief bill with $1,400 payments

The House of Representatives has passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, including a third round of stimulus checks worth $1,400 for most Americans.

The Democrat-controlled House voted, 219-212, in favor of the package, also known as the American Rescue Plan (ARP), early Saturday morning. The Associated Press reports moderate Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon were the only two lawmakers to cross party lines in the vote, while Republicans united against the bill.

The measure next goes to the evenly divided Senate, where changes could occur, such as removing a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 (up from $7.25 an hour). The chamber’s nonpartisan parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, said Thursday that Senate rules require the wage hike to be dropped from the legislation.

A senior Democratic aide told the AP that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’s considering adding a provision to the Senate version of the bill that would penalize large companies that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, have similarly proposed boosting taxes on corporations that don’t hit certain minimum wage targets.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has criticized the package as too expensive and “bloated” extras unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic, such as $1.5 million for a bridge in Upstate New York. But most details will likely remain, including direct payments and additional unemployment assistance, thanks to special rules that will let Democrats avoid a filibuster by Republicans, which would require an unattainable 60 votes to defeat.

Congress aims to have the bill on Biden’s desk by March 14, when the current round of unemployment assistance and other coronavirus aid expires.

How much will I get?

House committees have approved giving the full $1,400 to individuals with incomes of up to $75,000 (phasing out until $100,000) and $2,800 for married couples earning up to $150,000 (phasing out until $200,000), similar to the first two rounds of stimulus checks. Roughly 85% of U.S. adults would be eligible for the full amount, based on your income from your most recent tax return.

Combined with the $600 stimulus checks approved by President Donald Trump in December, the package would mean $2,000 in direct payments to most Americans.

Parents would also receive $1,400 per dependent, instead of $600 in the first two rounds, and this third round of checks will include eligible adult dependents for the first time. The previous two rounds were limited to children under age 17, so parents with college-age students can expect even more money.

That means that a family of four could receive $5,600 — in addition to the new Child Tax Credit.

Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal (D-Mass.) has proposed a child tax credit of $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under age 6. The credit, based on the taxpayer’s 2020 income, would normally be a lump sum on an individual or family’s income tax return but will instead be delivered as a monthly payment from the IRS for $250 or $300, depending on the child’s or children’s age, for a full year to help families affected by the pandemic.

The current child tax credit, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, provides $2,000 per child under 17 for single filers with incomes of $200,000 or less and couples filing jointly with $400,000 of adjusted gross income or less.

When will I get my stimulus check?

Late March, most likely.

After the second round was approved and signed by Trump, payments started going out within days. The first round of checks took weeks to begin arriving, even via direct deposit, but millions will receive the third round quickly if they have already verified their information on the IRS “Get My Payment” site.

Schumer set a March 14 deadline for sending the bill to Biden’s desk, which means those with direct deposit could get their stimulus checks in late March and those who receive paper checks or debit cards would likely get their payments later in the spring.

What else is in the new coronavirus relief bill?

President Biden first proposed the $1.9 trillion relief package last month, including $400 in weekly unemployment benefits; $70 billion towards vaccination centers and Covid-19 testing; $130 billion to help schools reopen safely; $15 billion in small business grants; $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local and territorial governments; reinstating paid sick leave; and $15 billion to help states subsidize child care for low-income families along with a $25 billion fund to help child care centers in danger of closing.

The first round of stimulus checks, which gave qualifying American adults a one-time direct payment of $1,200 plus $500 for each child under the age of 17, was part of Congress’ $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March 2020. A second round of stimulus checks worth $1,200 was approved in the HEROES Act in May, but legislation stalled for months and the December package cuts those direct payments in half.

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Property Search Insider

Saturday, February 27, 2021

3rd stimulus check: House passes Covid relief bill with $1,400 payments

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