Nearly three million individuals have signed a petition seeking monthly payments from President Joe Biden, so Americans may still obtain a $2,000 stimulus check.
The restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin's Change.org petition, which she started last year, had surpassed 2.9 million signatures as of Tuesday. Biden looks unlikely to authorize a fourth batch of direct payments after the previous $1,400 checks were sent out in the spring.
As the Delta variant has continued to plague the country, crippling families and the economy, his administration has been under increasing pressure to rethink. More than a dozen Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker, have advocated for up to $2,000 in monthly stimulus payments.
Biden has proposed a $3.5 trillion government budget proposal to help in various ways. However, a 48 to 50 vote in the Senate on Monday vetoed the deal, threatening to shut down the government when the September 30 deadline approaches.
Meanwhile, according to CNET, many states are implementing new strategies to alleviate citizens' financial burdens during the pandemic with direct payments and tax credits.
Unemployment on the rise
While monthly Child Tax Credit payments have begun reaching Americans' bank accounts since July, not everyone is eligible. At this time, the enhanced unemployment benefits have run out, leaving the unemployed to rely only on the assistance provided by their states.
Per USA Today, considering current unemployment statistics, this puts many individuals in a vulnerable situation. There were 351,000 new unemployment claims filed in the week ending September 18. This is a significant increase above the 335,000 new claims filed the week before, as well as the 320,000 new claims economists had predicted.
In fact, the number of new claims submitted that week was the highest since the week of August 21. Not only did the number of new jobless claims rise, but the number of those still looking for work increased by 181,000. Currently, about 2.84 million people are getting unemployment benefits.
In the meantime, some Americans will receive a type of stimulus check in the form of Child Tax Credit payments made on a monthly basis. Those installments are expected to continue until December.
Stimulus checks are still being provided
While the increased Child Tax Credit is only meant to apply for this year, lawmakers are pushing to make it a permanent part of the tax code and keep the existing system in place, in which parents get monthly installment payments rather than a single lump-sum payment.
The increased credit has already helped families make ends meet and lift children out of poverty, so even if we don't see another stimulus check anytime soon, that doesn't mean support isn't being delivered to those who need it.
Governments are preparing various types of stimulus checks and benefits across the US to ease the financial hit brought on by COVID-19 and the subsequent government measures enforced on the back of it, as states try to offer an extra economic boost to their residents in bad times.
The news of governmental financial assistance will come as a great relief to families across the country, especially with the employment market in such a wrong position after 18 months of hardships.
Consequently, families throughout the country are eager to learn if they will be eligible for such assistance, which is why we've decided to look into what individual states are planning in terms of stimulus checks and other types of economic assistance, as per MARCA.
