Congressional leaders unveiled on Sunday, Dec. 20 an approximately $900 billion stimulus deal that will provide Americans that qualify direct payments of $600 to help offset the hardships caused during the pandemic.
The $600 is half of what was directed during the first round of stimulus checks earlier this year.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC on Monday that the checks could be in Americans’ bank accounts in a matter of just a few days for those who have direct deposit info on file with the IRS.
“The good news is this is a very, very fast way of getting money into the economy," he said. "Let me emphasize: People are going to see this money at the beginning of next week.
“People go out and spend this money, and that helps small business and that helps getting more people back to work,” he added. “So it’s very fast, it’s money that gets recirculated in the economy.”
The payouts are expected to have similar phaseouts as the CARES Act earlier this year, with payments reduced for those earning $75,000 or more individually, or couples earning more than $150,000. The amount provided for dependent children rose from $500 to $600 per child.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Minority Leader, said on Sunday that “This is an emergency, we need a second bill to continue dealing with the emergency and to start stimulating our economy so we get back to where we were and that will be job number one in the new Biden administration.”
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