Stimulus check update: Still no details from Republicans and why that’s good news

We are now closing in on the final weeks of the passage of the next stimulus package.

Up to this point, we have seen clear support from the vast majority of Democrats which is why the HEROES Act passed in the House of Representatives so easily.

At times, there has been slightly mixed messaging coming from the White House but overall they seem to support more stimulus payments going out to Americans.

The big question has always been and continues to be what will the Republicans in the Senate do?

We have heard some positive comments coming from some of the Republican leaders in the Senate that suggest the Senate is open to more stimulus checks.

Some of those comments came with the caveat that more stimulus checks may be limited to those making under a certain amount of income such as $40,000 per year.

After those comments surfaced, we heard from insiders that this $40,000 per year limit is not likely to be introduced.

But despite hearing a comment here or there we still have not heard anything substantive from the Republicans when it comes to their proposal.

I figured that talks were probably happening behind closed doors between Democrats and Republicans but that looks like it might not be the case.

During a conference call with public workers and advocates for state and local funding, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stated that he had not heard anything from McConnell or other Republican lawmakers re: more checks.

He stated, “We have not heard a peep from (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell or the Republicans or the administration on any proposal, even though we’ve been asking for weeks and weeks and weeks.”

Schumer added, “McConnell knows from the previous bills that passed in the Senate he’s got to work across the aisle.”

This is interesting because it suggests that the timeline for the passage of the next stimulus package might be closer to the end of the month or perhaps even into August if things remain highly contested.

That would put the arrival of more stimulus checks coming in at the end of August or in September.

It’s also interesting regarding the potential changes to eligibility that have been talked about.

Initially when it was mentioned that the $40,000 a year limit on income was not likely, I figured that was a result of pushback from Democrats.

But from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like Democrats have received anything from the Senate majority leader.

So the changes taking place right now seem to be coming from within Republican circles.

That is a great sign if you are concerned about being left out of the next round of stimulus checks.

That’s because it means that Democrats have not even had their chance to influence the counter proposal from Republicans. And despite that fact, it looks like Republicans have already started to go back on some of the stricter eligibility requirements.

So while we still don’t know any specific details, I do think it is a great sign that Democrats have not had their say in the counter proposal yet but some of the eligibility criteria has already trended towards being more favorable.

H/T

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