Fourth Stimulus Check – All You Need to Know

The US House recently passed a bill proposing a new COVID-19 relief package that offers a third stimulus check of up to $1,400. The bill then moved to the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other Democrat leaders running Congress want the final bill to be at the President’s desk by March 14, so Americans could receive their payments within weeks.

March 2021 will mark the completion of one year of the pandemic. With Americans still struggling to make ends meet, some lawmakers are pressing for a fourth stimulus check and more after that. However, the current relief bill cleared the House early March 27 with a vote of 219 to 212, and the Senate vote will be a close one.

Fifty Democrat representatives, including New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, have signed a letter asking President Joe Biden’s administration to send recurring stimulus checks to help Americans take care of their essential needs during the pandemic. The letter says, “One more check is not enough during this public health and economic crisis.”

However, while many people support the idea of recurring stimulus checks, there are many detractors too. Republicans view the third stimulus check as expensive and unnecessary, and some Democrats believe the payments should target people with lower incomes. Aside from this likely opposition, other factors reduce the possibility of future stimulus checks.

Democrats are currently passing Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package through Congress using a process that lets them pass the legislation with simple majorities and perhaps no Republican support. Biden and the Democrats can use this approach only once more this year, after the next fiscal year starts on October 1, 2021. With healthcare, climate change, and infrastructure also being Biden’s priorities, it’s unlikely he’ll use this last opportunity to get clearance for more stimulus checks.

If you’re awaiting a third stimulus check and are worried about your income later this year:

– make savings your top priority

– lower your budget

– convert your debt into a low-interest debt consolidation loan

– refinance your mortgage to slash your payments