Senate Republicans along with White House officials are gearing up to roll out another round of $1,200 checks to a large number of Americans. The upcoming rounds of checks are not slated to renew unemployment insurance enhancement citing a proposal for the upcoming stimulus bill set to be revealed Monday.
This revelation was made by top administration officials over the weekend. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that the $1,200 checks to American people will be included in the new recovery package, aside from retention bonuses, reemployment bonuses and tax credits for restaurants and other small businesses. CNN reported last week that the Republican proposal for the one-time payment would reflect would first round of stimulus checks.
As part of the first round of stimulus checks, individuals were in line for a one-time payment of up to $1,200, while families qualified for $2,400, in addition to $500 per child. The size of the payments was reduced based on income level and completely canceled for higher-income Americans.
Senate Republicans insisted on phasing out the second round of payments at a lower income threshold, but sooner, while administration officials insist on replicating the first round of checks at the time of negotiations. The GOP proposal will reflect the administration's position.
A more generous Democratic proposal that passed the White House earlier this year, provides $1,200 per child and a maximum payment of $6,000. Moreover, it would even qualify undocumented immigrants, who were not included in the first round, for receiving the money.
Kudlow claims the Republican proposal will extend an already lapsing federal eviction moratorium. Earlier this week, CNN reported that the $600 weekly unemployment benefit that Americans have relied upon is slated to expire this week.
Hoping to replace benefits that officials accused of encouraging recipients not to return to work, will be unveiled on Monday. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday that they are bent on moving forward quickly, adding that once the bill is introduced on Monday, they will be acting quickly.
Kudlow said they have been receiving several phone calls, inquiries, and complaints that small stores, businesses, and restaurants are unable to hire people back. He went on to explain that they want to pay people to encourage them to return to work, adding that the idea was initially to keep people at home instead of out looking for work amid a pandemic.