Second Stimulus Check? Here Is What You Could Get – Maybe?

While there are still millions that have not even received their stimulus checks from the first stimulus round, Congress is voting today on a brand new stimulus bill. Here is what you could get from that.

What a New Stimulus Bill Could Bring

$3,000,000,000,000 Stimulus Bill Being Voted On

First of all, it is important to know that this next stimulus bill, if it was signed into law as is, would be the biggest one ever. It is a $3,000,000,000,000 ($3 trillion) stimulus package. This is about a 50% increase over the last stimulus bill so this is no longer talking about about a million here, a million there.

Read: 6 Reasons Your Stimulus Check Could Be Lower and What To Do

There are reports that say the last stimulus package did not do for the economy what lawmakers had hoped for, hence we have a new stimulus bill being voted on.

This one may not pass as quick as the old one as politicians are working things from both ends. But, here is what you could get from this stimulus bill – if it would pass.

This is what the new bill includes (according to this article from Forbes):

• $200 billion for essential workers to get hazard pay (this would include frontline medical workers)
• $1 trillion for state, local, and tribal governments to help pay “vital workers like first responders, health workers, and teachers” who could lose their jobs.
• A second stimulus check for Americans in the amount of $1,200 (this would be a one-time payment as with the first stimulus check). However, instead of $500 for children, families would get $1,200 for each household member up to a max of $6,000.
• $175 billion in housing assistance to help renters and homeowners with rent, mortgage and utility payments.
• $75 billion for coronavirus testing, tracing and isolation efforts.
• An extension of the COVID-19 unemployment program providing that the extra $600 per week benefit would last until January 2021 instead of expiring in July 2020 as it currently stands
• $25 billion for the US Postal Service

So, What Would You Get With This Proposed Stimulus Bill?

Let’s look past the essential workers (not in disrespect, just for general roundup) and the housing assistance, as well as the unemployment part.

Max of $6,000 Per Household

The bill proposes that the same people who were eligible for the past stimulus check would get $1,200 each this time as well. The major difference would be that, instead of $500 per child, children would get $1,200 for each household member. The maximum per household would be $6,000.

Could Make a Forgotten Group of People Covered This Time

This could fix a big issue with the last bill where people who were age 17 and older yet still “children” for the purpose of their parents’ taxes could not receive their own stimulus amount and the parents could not receive $500 either.

Senate Democrats have their own version which would up the payout to $4,000 for a married couple filing together and $2,000 per child up to $10,000 per household. This would be continued until the coronavirus was ended, plus 3 months.

The House bill would be a one-time payment, similar to last time.

Read: Stimulus Checks Are Going Out – Here is When You Should Get Yours

Will This Stimulus Bill Actually Pass?

This is not a political blog and I do not want to go in that direction – I am just covering this as I have the last one. But, I do want to address some reasons this may not pass – at least as is.

• This bill would include Individual Taxpayer Identification Number holders – which are people who are in the US without documentation. This is a group of over 4 million people and this current bill would not just give the $1,200 to each of them but would give them the $1,200 from the last bill, retroactively
• The new bill also includes funding for tracing efforts which many people are against
• Many earmarks in the bills for programs that Republicans feel are “pet projects” of the Democrats

So, there are many lawmakers that are saying this bill will not pass as is. But, those same lawmakers are also saying there is a need for a new stimulus bill but they need to negotiate on several parts.

This could mean that the payout to taxpayers would stick, or at least be the same as the last bill.

Bottom Line

This new bill is being voted on in the House today. But, it will likely not pass as is in the Senate. Still, there are provisions that could be agreed upon by both parties and be passed into law in the next few weeks – particularly the individual payouts.

For those still waiting for money from the first payout, more checks are going out in the next couple of weeks. Check out the posts below that may have interest for you on the first stimulus checks.

• Waiting for the Stimulus? The IRS Has Made a “Significant” Upgrade to the Tool
• Stimulus Money for SSI Recipients: What You Need to Know
• What Happens if You Didn’t Get Your Stimulus Money Yet?
• Here is When You Will Get Your Stimulus Check
• Stimulus Money Problems? Here is Why You May Not Have Received Your Money
• Is the IRS “Get My Payment” Tool Not Working? This May Help