This past Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden released summary details of the new coronavirus proposal that his team plans to push for.

The plan contained a lot of items including enhanced unemployment benefits, a minimum wage increase, aid for vaccine distribution, and also stimulus checks.

As this was just the summary, we still don’t know the exact language that the legislation will have but we have a pretty good idea of what it will include.

The stimulus checks included in the proposal are for $1,400 but this has a lot of people, including some lawmakers, unhappy. Some even believe that Biden was not forthcoming in his support for the amount of the stimulus checks.

During the contentious months of November and December, Biden was a pretty vocal proponent of bigger stimulus checks. Along with President Trump, he consistently voiced support for larger checks going out.

And most recently, right before the Georgia runoff elections, he spoke specifically on $2,000 checks.

“If you send Jon and the Reverend to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door,” Biden said on the day before the special elections.

“And if you send Sens. Perdue and Loeffler back to Washington, those checks will never get there. It’s just that simple. The power is literally in your hands.”

Some people feel that Biden was explicitly supporting $2,000 checks in addition to the $600 checks that had already gone out in order to score some political points but has now backtracked now that the elections are over with.

“$2,000 means $2,000,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said.

“$2,000 does not mean $1,400.”

Personally, I do think that Biden should have been a little bit more clear about what he meant by $2,000 checks.

In a separate interview, he called the $900 billion stimulus deal that contained the $600 checks a “down payment” so I don’t think he has been completely inconsistent.

But because he was not specific enough, I think people are justified in calling him out.

The thing to remember is that while Democrats have control of the Senate, they still will likely need 10 votes from the GOP to pass the relief legislation.

(They could go another route that requires only a simple majority but Biden has shown he does not support that route.)

If Biden authorized or pushed for an additional $2,000 check, it could be much harder to get those vital 10 votes from the GOP.

And the last thing that we want is another protracted battle in Congress where it takes months and months to get much-needed aid out the door.

So while I do think people are justified in feeling a little bit duped by the president elect and his team regarding the amount of the checks, I think the Biden team is probably making the right call by not pushing for huge checks that would cause a difficult battle to wage in Washington.

H/T

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1/15/21 Update:

If you read the details of the new coronavirus relief proposal (which are supplied below), you may have noticed that student loan relief was not mentioned.

This made a lot of people anxious about what will happen to their student loan payments because the current deferment ends this month.

But rest assured that the Biden administration has already stated that one of the first acts in office will be to direct the Department of Education to extend the existing moratorium on student loan payments, interest, and collections.

The deferment on payments could literally be extended the first day Biden takes office.

So I think everyone can fully expect for their loan payments to be deferred even further.

The question is how much further?

A lot of the benefits seem to be leaning towards an extension until September so it would not surprise me to see the deferment extended to the fall.

If there is pushback on these extensions then we might see the deferment limited to the beginning of the summer. Anything shorter than that would really surprise me.

As for student loan forgiveness, there has been some talk of having some type of student loan forgiveness such as a $10,000 forgiveness amount.

I don’t think many people are very optimistic about this measure gaining traction in the relief package but there will likely be some talk about it.

Most likely, we will see some type of legislation appear for student loan forgiveness during the Biden presidency but it could be “postponed” for a while.

H/T

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Update:

President-elect Joe Biden just released details of a new $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal.

The proposal addresses a lot of the features left out of the last $900 billion stimulus bill including bigger checks. But it also has some more wishlist type items like an increased minimum wage.

Check out what the package known as the “American Rescue Plan” has to offer.

Stimulus checks

The plan calls for sending out $1,400 payments to eligible recipients. This would bring the total to $2,000 between the second and third round of stimulus checks.

There would also be expanded eligibility for certain individuals such as children over the age of 17 and households with mixed immigration status.

Increase support for vaccines and coronavirus testing

The plan would invest $20 billion in a national vaccination program which will help launch community vaccination centers around the US. $50 billion would also be invested in testing and expanding lab capacity.

This is great to hear as the vaccine distribution has been seriously lagging.

Enhanced unemployment aid

The current unemployment benefits offer $300 a week in assistance but his plan would increase the benefit to $400 a week. He would also extend the payments along with two pandemic unemployment programs through September.

The current benefits are expected to expire in March.

It seems that the plan is targeting the fall as the cut off for a lot of these programs. It will be interesting to see if Congress can agree to extend those benefits out that far or if they have to settle for sometime like the beginning of summer.

Rental assistance and eviction moratorium

The plan calls for $25 billion in rental assistance for low- and moderate-income households who have lost jobs during the pandemic. A separate $5 billion would help renters who are struggling to pay utility bills.

Also, the plan would extend the federal eviction moratorium to September 30. (It is currently set to expire at the end of this month.)

Hunger assistance

There would be a 15% increase in food stamp benefits through September of next year instead of them expiring in June. There would also be $3 billion to help women, infants and children secure food.

Child care and child tax credits

The new proposal calls for a $25 billion emergency fund and adds $15 billion to an existing program that helps child care providers, including family child care homes, to pay for rent, utilities, and payroll.

The child tax credit may be boosted to $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 for those between the ages of six and 17 years old.

Assistance for small business

The new plan will provide $15 billion to create new grants for small business owners which will be separate from the PPP.

Aid for states in schools

The plan will distribute a whopping $350 billion to state, local and territorial governments.

The funds would be used for a variety of purposes such as helping frontline workers, vaccine distribution, testing, and help with schools.

$15 an hour minimum wage

This came as a bit of a surprise but the proposal calls for Congress to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to end the minimum wage for those who receive tips as well as the sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities.

H/T

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Just when things were starting to die down a little bit, we had the riots in Washington DC and shortly after that, President Trump became the first president in the history of the country to be impeached twice.

And now as we are only about a week away from the transition of power, there are measures being taken to prevent another major riot not just at US capitol but in places all around the country.

Meanwhile, we have a pandemic that is still raging throughout the country, causing shut downs and still preventing our economy from fully bouncing back for the time being.

We also have a vaccine distribution plan that has thus far under achieved to a great degree.

So a major worry is that stimulus relief will not get the attention it deserves because lawmakers are going to be preoccupied with other things including the impeachment trial that will take place in the Senate.

Luckily, there are still lawmakers, including key Republicans, who are pushing for $2,000 checks as a top priority.

Sen. Marco Rubio is one of the,

“It would send a powerful message to the American people if, on the first day of your presidency, you called on the House and Senate to send you legislation to increase the direct economic impact payments to Americans struggling due to the pandemic from $600 to $2,000,” he wrote.

“You have the ability to help break the paralysis in Washington by delivering desperately needed relief,” Rubio said.

“I implore you to rise above the rhetoric and deliver an increase in assistance for American families.”

We’ve already learned that it looks like Iawmakers would send an additional $1,400 check rather than an additional $2,000 check and as more letters appear, this seems more likely.

There is always the potential for this process to drag out though. The last time lawmakers attempted to agree on a stimulus bill it took almost a year.

So it would be pretty incredible if the new Biden administration could get the ball rolling from day one and that might be possible if more Republicans are willing to get on board.

Although Democrats have the numbers for majority in both the House and the Senate, I think they still need some Republican support to get a robust proposal through Congress.

Today, we should be hearing details about the new Biden proposal for coronavirus relief that is said to cost in the trillions.

We’re pretty sure that it will include increased stimulus payments but we still don’t know exactly how much and also we don’t know what type of timeline they will be shooting for.

H/T

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Yesterday, we saw the initial details of the new Biden proposal for coronavirus relief. It’s a pretty impressive proposal that totals $1.9 trillion which is more than double the last stimulus bill.

The new proposal contains many important measures like funds for increased vaccine distribution, aid for local and state governments, and extended unemployment benefits.

And of course, the highly anticipated third round of stimulus checks is also included.

The plan is to send out $1,400 checks which is essentially a way to increase the $600 payments that have already gone out to $2,000.

But the plan is to do a little bit more in the realm of stimulus checks.

One of the big changes will be that they want to expand eligibility to some people who have been left out the first two rounds of stimulus relief.

The biggest key group that could be eligible are dependents.

There are basically two major groups of dependents that have been left out.

The first are those 17 years or older who are still dependent upon their parents. Many college students would fall into this group and up until now they have been left out of the stimulus checks.

The other important group would be adults who are dependent on other adults.

So for example if an adult child is taking care of their parent or grandparent, that would be a case where the elderly individual would now be eligible.

It’s not clear to me if the same dependent allowance of $500 will be given or if they will go for the new $600 allowance or perhaps even something higher.

The other expanded eligibility has to deal with immigration status.

The new plan wants to expand eligibility to all mixed status households which refers to “families in which one person is a US citizen or green card holder while others lack legal immigration status.”

To give you an idea, there are roughly 16,000,000 people in the US who would fall under the status which includes around 6 million children.

The recent $600 payments have already trending in this direction by providing payments to American citizens married to undocumented immigrants.

The problem is that the funds were not available to undocumented parents of US-citizen children with Social Security numbers.

It’s not 100% clear as to how far the new proposal will go with expanding eligibility. And it’s also not known what Congress will be willing to accept.

Because Democrats now control both chambers along with the White House, it should be easier to push through their initiatives for coronavirus relief but you can’t take these things for granted especially since some Democrats have already voiced opposition.

We do know that this relief package and in particular stimulus checks are a top priority for Democrats so I do expect them to get the ball rolling very soon after inauguration day.

And hopefully the process will not be slow down by other circumstances such as the impeachment of President Trump.

H/T

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As soon as Democrats take control of the chamber, they are expected to make coronavirus relief a top priority. This apparently includes increasing direct payments to a total of $2,000.

“The job of COVID emergency relief is far from complete,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter.

“Democrats wanted to do much more in the last bill and promised to do more, if given the opportunity, to increase direct payments to a total of $2,000 — we will get that done.”

For those wondering if we would see an additional $2,000 check or an additional $1,400 check, this language (“to a total of“) makes it sound like the third round of stimulus checks would be capped at $1,400.

This is not unexpected at all because an increase in stimulus checks was already going to be controversial for Republicans in the Senate.

By trying to push for an additional $2,000 amount that totaled $2,600, that was going to be a much more uphill battle than simply adding the $1,400.

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We will know more about what the package should include after tomorrow which is when Biden is expected to reveal the full details of his proposal.

In addition to stimulus checks, we are expecting other benefits to be included like money for vaccine distribution, small businesses, schools, and state and local governments.

“We will immediately set to work to deliver on that goal,” Schumer said.

“As our first order of legislative business, please prepare to address additional COVID emergency relief legislation.”

It’s still not clear if Democrats will have the votes to pass another huge relief bill even though they will have control of both the Senate and the House.

Democrat senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, said that he would “absolutely not” support sending Americans a $2,000 stimulus check.

“How is the money that we invest now going to help us best to get jobs back and get people employed?” he said.

“And I can’t tell you that sending another check out is gonna do that to a person that’s already got a check.”

He later clarified that his priority is getting the vaccines out and that he would potentially be open to a more targeted approach for the stimulus checks.

Vaccine distribution is a major concern right now as the US is currently far behind its goal. According to the New York Times, 20 million Americans were supposed to be vaccinated by January 1 but only 3 million were.

So there is a lot of work to do on that end although I’m not sure why it would preclude authorizing an additional payment of stimulus checks, especially since the third time around it should be the easiest.

H/T

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As millions of Americans wait to hear about the status of the third stimulus check, there is a chance that many people could receive substantially more money with the third round of checks and that we might see expanded eligibility.

There also is a chance that some people might see the amount they are eligible for decrease depending on their status.

Below, I’ll break down a few different ways that the next round of stimulus payments could differ from what we have seen so far.

The amount of the checks

First, we still don’t know if the third round of stimulus checks would contain a $1,400 check or $2,000 check.

The initial push from lawmakers was for $2,000 checks but since $600 payments have gone out already, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them settle for $1,400 checks next.

With that said, $2,000 payments are definitely still on the table based on what some Democrats have hinted.

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Payments to families

One area where we could see a dramatic increase is when it comes to payments to families.

The first round of stimulus payments offered families an extra $500 for each dependent child that was 16 years or younger. And for the second round, this amount was increased to $600.

There is reason to speculate that this amount could greatly increase with the third round of stimulus payments.

This is because the HEROES Act, which was passed by the House back in May, would have upped the amount to $1,200 per dependent.

And the CASH Act, which was passed by the House in December, would have increased it from $600 to $2,000.

If we see these dramatic increases, they will probably come along with caps that limit the payments to something like three dependents. But even with those caps, that’s still a significant increase.

Not only that but Democrats have tried to expand the eligibility of dependents to those older than 16 so that college students and elderly parents could be eligible.

Targeted approach

Based on some of the opposition that we have heard, it’s possible that lawmakers will have to create a more tailored approach for the third stimulus check.

The most obvious way this would be done is by decreasing the income threshold for when payments begin to phase out.

Right now, if you are an individual, you should receive the full payment if you have an adjusted gross income under $75,000. If you are a married couple filing jointly, then your income can be up to $150,000.

If the lawmakers in favor of a targeted approach gain momentum, you can probably expect these income figures to drop. Or if the income cut off’s don’t change, the phase out rate could be more aggressive.

Multiple payments

We’ve heard lawmakers discuss the possibility of sending out monthly payments to Americans.

These have come in different forms but proposals have included direct payments of $2,000 a month for up to one year or to when the pandemic ends.

Even with Democrats now controlling all branches of government I don’t think these monthly payments will pass because they are just simply too expensive.

The only way I could see them getting through as if they were extremely targeted and only went out for a small minority of people.

In the coming weeks, we will likely hear more about this option but I personally would not get too excited about it. It just doesn’t seem very realistic.

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2020 tax returns

It’s possible that your next stimulus check could be based on your 2020 tax return, assuming you file it in time.

This means that if your income increased and you would like to stay eligible, you may want to hold off on filing your 2020 income tax.

At the same time, if your 2019 income was much higher than your 2020 income then you may want to file your 2020 taxes as soon as possible.

Of course, you should always consult with a tax professional to make sure you are making the best move.

Social Security numbers

Right now, it is required for you to have a Social Security number in order to receive a stimulus check. But that is one requirement that Democrats have been trying to change and so it is possible that with this third round, you may not need a Social Security number.

As you can see, there are ways that stimulus payments could go up or down depending on your status.

But overall, it seems there are more ways that eligibility could be expanded and that the payments could increase so that most Americans will benefit from changes that come with a third stimulus check.

We might know a lot more about the third round of stimulus checks this Thursday as Biden reveals details of his coronavirus relief plan.

H/T

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We are now patiently waiting for President-Elect Joe Biden to reveal his coronavirus proposal this Thursday.

This proposal is expected to be in the trillions of dollars and appears like it could be an extremely comprehensive bill.

We’ve even heard some discussion about it containing measures that would have profound effects on people financially such as raising the minimum wage.

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One measure that we are expecting to see included is another round of stimulus checks. These checks could be priced at around $1,400 to $2,000 we still don’t know for sure.

But do we really need the stimulus checks or will lawmakers have a case against them?

According to Biden and some Democrats, it seems the economists they are listening to believe these checks are necessary.

“The overwhelming consensus among leading economists left, right and center is that in order to keep the economy from collapsing this year and getting much, much worse, we should be investing significant amounts of money right now to grow the economy,” Biden said.

“We need more direct relief flowing to families, small businesses, including finishing the job of getting people that $2,000 relief direct payment.”

Stimulus checks have been criticized for not being the most direct route to get funds to people who need it the most. Compared to unemployment benefits, stimulus checks may not be as efficient.

But that doesn’t mean that they don’t play a huge role in helping to save the economy from collapsing.

Only a small percentage of recipients put these checks away into savings and most do inject their funds into the economy, thus helping to stimulate economic activity.

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The latest US Labor Department report also makes a case for more stimulus checks.

In December, we saw 140,000 jobs lost which was the highest monthly drop since April and we know that the spring of 2020 was an utter disaster in terms of employment.

The unemployment rate in December was at 6.7% and the number of unemployed individuals was at 10.7 million.

That is not as bad as the peak of the pandemic but keep in mind that these numbers are still nearly twice what they were before the pandemic back in February 2020.

And that month we saw 3.5% unemployment and only 5.7 million unemployed individuals.

So unemployment is still very bad compared to where it was before the outbreak of the virus.

Obviously unemployment benefits will help the unemployed but if you are using unemployment as a gauge for where the economy stands as a whole, I think it makes the case to at least entertain more stimulus checks.

Even if people are not considered unemployed today, they may still be recovering from months of depressed wages so you have to take those people into account.

But with the unemployment figures and the White House already having their own team of economic experts who believe in the effect of more stimulus checks, I think there is a strong case that there will be enough data to support issuing out more checks when the new Biden bill is getting put together.

H/T

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It seems like things on Capitol Hill are starting to get back under control and now the attention is largely shifting to next week when Joe Biden will release the details of his coronavirus relief package.

We know that the package is going to be large, (as in in the trillions large), but what can we expect for the package to contain?

We have some hints already and here are some benefits we might see.

Third stimulus check

Probably the most popular item that people are looking forward to is another stimulus check. Biden has been very vocal about the $600 checks not being enough and has voiced support for sending Americans $2,000.

The big question we don’t know is if the third stimulus check would be for $2,000 or if it would be for $1,400.

I’m sure we will find that out soon.

I don’t think that we can say that the third stimulus checks are a lock just yet though because even some Democrats have voiced opposition to the idea.

But based on some support that has come from Republicans, I think the odds are very high of a third stimulus check going out.

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Vaccine deliveries

A lot of people are unhappy with the current status of vaccine distribution. It seems there have been several bottlenecks that have the country way behind in its goals.

Biden wants to prioritize vaccine distribution and will likely push for additional funding to make that happen.

“I will immediately move for the most urgent need of asking the Congress to give me the financial wherewithal to deal with the virus,” Biden said.

 “I’m committed to get 100 million shots in people’s arms in the first 100 days.”

Aid for local and state governments

Perhaps the most contentious issue over the summer and the fall was the funding for local and state governments.

Eventually, this item got dropped and allowed the $600 stimulus checks to go through but this topic will certainly come back up now the Democrats are in control.

This item was also tied to the liability protections that Democrats do not want so it is possible that they may have to give in to those protections if they want to get enough Republicans on board to pass this measure.

Unemployment benefits

The unemployment benefits are considered the most streamlined way to deliver relief to people who need it the most so I would expect these benefits to be extended.

Biden has talked about extending unemployment benefits for “however long this crisis lasts.” So it’s not outside the realm of possibility that these benefits could be extended all the way to the summer.

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Student loan help

Most likely, those owing federal student loans will get their payments deferred for several more months. I’ve heard talk of the deferment lasting all the way through the fall of 2021 but I’m not sure of that yet.

There is also even talk about loan forgiveness for up to $10,000 in student debt but that could be part of a different deal.

It’s very possible that Democrats could load up the stimulus bill with measures only slightly related to coronavirus relief with the hopes of getting them passed.

As they negotiate with Republicans, they could drop those items but that strategy did not play out very well last time. It could work better now that Democrats have more advantageous numbers but I still would prefer them to come up with a bill that targets the relief needed the most.

Minimum wage boost

There’s also talk about boosting the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour all the way up to $15.

“No one, no one should work as millions are doing today, 40 hours a week at a job, and still live below the poverty line. They are entitled to at least $15 minimum wage per hour,” Biden said.  

So some of these items are more wish list items but I am pretty confident that we will see a very robust package put together that hopefully gets through Congress in a timely fashion.

H/T

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Yesterday, President elect Joe Biden began to discuss his framework for the next round of coronavirus relief.

While we don’t know the exact details as of yet, we know that he is planning for a multi trillion dollar package that will include more stimulus checks.

It’s very likely that he will push for stimulus checks in the amount of $2,000 or at least $1,400.

And now that the Democrats have the majority in both the House and the Senate the path to getting such a deal passed should be easier.

However, it still is no guarantee.

For example, we heard immediate opposition from moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. 

 “I don’t know where in the hell $2,000 came from. I swear to God I don’t,” he said.

“That’s another $400 billion dollars.” 

He also stated that he would “absolutely not” support a large stimulus check for Americans.

This surprised a lot of people because support from moderate Democrats is vital due to the slim majority that Democrats have. If the moderates are not on board, the task of successfully pushing out another bill becomes extremely difficult.

Interestingly, a spokesperson for Manchin seemed to walk back his position a bit stating that, Manchin “isn’t drawing a red line against” $2,000 checks, but simply “believes vaccine distribution should be a higher priority.”

He also later tweeted out a more open ended statement about his position on stimulus checks.

“If the next round of stimulus checks goes out they should be targeted to those who need it.”

This statement shows that while Democrats are certainly in a better position now to pass relief bills, there still may be some internal resistance within the party that could slow or halt things.

A third round of stimulus checks may not be guaranteed.

So that will be something to look out for.

We’re expected to see the Biden proposal late next week and we should have a good idea of all of the contents as well as the budget.

H/T

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Update:

Now that Democrats will assume control of Congress, many are looking forward to additional stimulus relief that will be on the way.

As mentioned below, we know that stimulus relief in the form of more stimulus checks is going to be a top priority for Democrats but what exactly does that mean in terms of a timeline?

And are we talking about $2,000 checks or $1,400 checks?

These are questions that we don’t know the answer to for sure right now but some experts are already speculating.

In terms of the amount of the checks, it seems that both amounts ($2,000 or $1,400) could be on the table.

“We expect growing anticipation that Democrats will pursue additional stimulus, with a $2,000 check (or at least the remaining $1,400) as a leading item,” Ed Mills, an analyst with investment bank Raymond James, said.

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Considering that passage would likely require 10 Republicans to get on board, I would think that it would be a lot easier to get them on board with an additional $1,400 check rather than an additional $2,000 check.

So I would probably expect the smaller amount to go out.

And that leads us to the next big question which is when we can actually expect these checks to be issued?

Experts are predicting that another stimulus package would likely come in March.

That is the time when the current extended unemployment programs will end which will likely put a lot of pressure on Congress to act.

While the pandemic will likely be under control a lot more by March due to widespread vaccinations, it will most definitely still be a major problem.

I think it is likely that unemployment benefits will be extended for a few more months at that time and it is logical to think that more stimulus checks will be wrapped into that deal.

In that scenario, that means that the third round of stimulus checks would not go out until March or April.

Of course, lawmakers might be more aggressive considering that they have been trying to push these things through for a long time and the situation with the pandemic is looking pretty dire at the moment as lockdowns are coming back at high levels.

My advice would be to sit tight and if you have run into any issues with tracking your IRS payment, you may want to file your 2020 taxes as soon as you can so that you can expedite the process for receiving your stimulus check.

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H/T

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The highly anticipated Georgia runoff is now over and Democrats have swept both Senate seats.

This means that the Senate make up will now be 50-50 but the tiebreaker will go to the vice president who is also a Democrat, so Democrats now essentially control both the House and the Senate.

For those anticipating and in need of more stimulus checks, this is a great victory.

The soon to be majority leader of the Senate has already stated that delivering $2,000 checks is a top priority.

“One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated is deliver the $2,000 checks to the American Families,” Schumer said.

Biden has also been a vocal supporter of higher stimulus checks and has also reiterated interest in seeing a third stimulus check go out stating, “$2,000 checks will go out the door.” 

It’s a little bit unclear as to whether or not $2,000 checks will be in addition to the $600 payments already going out or if there would be an additional $1,400 payment.

Either way, the odds are extremely high that we will see more stimulus relief go out very soon.

This legislation would still likely need 60 votes to pass which would mean that 10 Republicans would have to get on board.

We’ve already heard reports that there could be at least 10 Republicans who would vote in favor of more stimulus relief so that is certainly a possibility.

As far as when the relief will get drafted and finalized, that is a bigger unknown.

There were obviously some very chaotic events in Washington yesterday but it’s not clear to me that this is an ongoing threat as of yet.

Now that the election results have been certified, Biden is expected to be sworn in on inauguration day on January 20.

I would imagine that lawmakers would jump on the opportunity to start getting items passed that they have been working on for months and months so I don’t think they will waste any time.

That makes me believe that we could see a deal come together in February and more checks issued in February or perhaps in March.

H/T

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There’s some serious chaos happening in Washington DC right now as protesters have stormed the capitol. People have been shot, windows have been broken, and there is a lot of unrest all around.

The protests began as lawmakers attempted to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win and escalated quickly. In fact, there were even reports of an armed standoff at the front door which is pretty crazy.

But down in Georgia it is starting to look like Democrats will win both the regular election and the special election for the Senate seats.

Warnock, the Democrat, has already been designated the winner in the special election. And it is expected that Ossoff will win the regular election although the race is still a very close one.

This would put Democrats in control of the Senate for the first time in six years and would make Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the new Majority Leader.

Schumer, well aware of this, is already reiterating his interest in sending out more stimulus checks as soon as possible.

“I said what I said about the checks. It’s one of the first things we want to do once our new senators are seated, they campaigned on it.”

That’s highly encouraging to hear for anyone looking forward to receiving more aid and with Democrats in control of the White House, Senate, and House there should be no stopping them from passing such a bill.

These Georgia runoff results are pretty surprising to a lot of people as most expected Republicans to win at least one of the seats and thus remain in control of the Senate.

So it definitely changes the conversation on stimulus relief and if Democrats do indeed take control it’s possible that they could start putting a bill together as soon as this month.

That would mean more checks going out likely in February. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other measures put into place like perhaps extended unemployment benefits, student loan deferments, etc.

But that assumes that lawmakers can get together and get work done in Washington which given the current instability on Capitol Hill, that might take a little while.

Washington DC just issued a citywide curfew and more law enforcement are responding to the threats so hopefully it will get under control soon without anybody else getting seriously hurt.

H/T

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