by On March 27th Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package to send most Americans checks up to $1,200. This is being done to help stimulate the economy and help families that might be in need while COVID-19 spreads across the country.
The relief plan includes stimulus payments to individuals, student loan changes, and more.
Most adults will get $1,200, although some will get less. For every qualifying child age 16 or under, the payment will be an additional $500. Single adults with Social Security numbers who have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less will get the full amount. Married couples with no children earning $150,000 or less will receive a total of $2,400. And taxpayers filing as head of household will get the full payment if they earned $112,500 or less. Anyone who filed as a dependent on their tax returns will not be receiving the stimulus check.
So far there is only one stimulus package that passed; however, future bills could order additional payments.
“The stimulus checks being issued by the government are one piece of the economic puzzle in giving Americans who are out of work a helping hand,” said Samuel Chen, Political science professor. He continued, “We’re also seeing states waiving certain requirements for unemployment benefits in order to help those temporarily out of work due to their workplaces closing in light of the shutdown orders.”
Student loans are also being altered in this plan. Until Sept. 30, there are automatic payment suspensions for any student loan held by the federal government. This will begin retroactively from March 13.
Another part of the bill made unemployment benefits more accessible to everyone. Now anyone that can’t work because of the virus has the option to collect unemployment.
“Unfortunately, the impact of COVID-19 isn’t confined to our health and wellness, but its reach is vast and includes businesses in all our communities and throughout the country,” Chen said. “This means many Americans are currently out of work, like restaurants, bars, salons, certain retail stores, and the like all shutdown.”
With all that’s going on every little bit helps. With the stimulus package, not only would the economy benefit but the citizens who live paycheck to paycheck have a chance at recovery.
