Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER
Democrats and Republicans agree that there should be a second stimulus check. Although both parties have yet to come up with a solution.
As reported by The Rider in April, President Donald Trump signed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act March 27 to provide economic relief to small businesses and families during the coronavirus outbreak.
Though discussion is still up in the air about a second stimulus check, complicating matters is a new, much smaller COVID relief bill from the Republican Party that is expected to address a subsection of the issues raised in the Republican HEALS (Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools) Act and Democratic Heroes Act, according to an article by Cnet.
The HEALS Act proposed an upper limit of $1,200 per qualified person, although the tax filing status is the biggest factor determining how much money they will receive. The plan would also include $500 for dependents regardless of age.
On the other hand, the Heroes Act would place a cap of $6,000 for households of five or more. It proposes $1,200 for each adult and dependent, with a maximum of three dependents per family.
Salvador Contreras, economics & finance associate professor, said it does not seem that Congress, Democrats, Republicans and the Senate are close to an agreement.
“What you would expect is that they would be far more likely to reach an agreement now than before,” Contreras said. “If we get close to the election where individual parties will be thinking about their re-election campaigns and it would be a lot more difficult for them to make compromises in certain areas that they feel their constituents may not agree with. So I think the time to do the second stimulus would be now given the current state of the negotiation.”
Asked about the $300 a week federal boost for unemployment, he replied, “So under the original CARES Act the boost was $600 a week and that ended at the end of July so, all the people who received unemployment insurance lost that $600. The idea is that Congress should act and try to protect these workers by reinstating back the $600.”
President Trump issued an executive order in early August that would add $400 to people’s unemployment check. The federal government will provide $300 and states could decide whether to contribute an additional $100.
“This money is likely to work for about a month to two months before it runs out of money depending on the states who participate in this,” Contreras said. “But again this is to replenish the $600 that went away so you would get part of what you were getting before the $600 stimulus was in place.”
He said the unemployment rate, as of last Wednesday, stands at 10%.
“Even though it’s an improvement from 15% back in April, they still had people who were unemployed,” Contreras said. “The economy is still not back to its pre-COVID levels and so it appears that it needs help from the federal government to try to get back to a healthier position.”
