$1,400 stimulus payments could be the last

ORLANDO, Fla. — The “American Rescue Plan” introduced by President-Elect Joe Biden fulfills one of the demands of lawmakers in 2020, larger stimulus payments.

In December, Congress passed a second recovery plan and approved with it $600 for each American. Now Biden and other lawmakers are calling for an additional $1,400, with some changes.

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One of the biggest changes to the proposed plan is that taxpayers with adult dependents will be able to receive the $1,400.

Like previous plans, the Biden plan would send checks to every taxpayer based on income with phase-outs starting at $75,000 for single taxpayers, and $150,000 for those married filing jointly. Parents would also receive a check for their children under the age of 18 and children over the age of 17 who are listed as adult dependents.

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The package, which comes as the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine is just beginning, is meant to help the economy along until jobs return, especially to those sectors hardest hit.

But will this be the last stimulus deal?

“A lot of this will come down to how affectively we are able to get the virus under control and whether or not the economy is able to rebound once we succeed in getting the virus under control,” says Jonathan Bydlak, the Director of Fiscal and Budget Policy for the R-Street Institute. “I think this stimulus package, like all the packages we’ve seen up to this point have some things that are good, some things that are mixed, and some things that are bad.”

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Bydlak points to targeted assistance in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, saying specific industries have fared much worse than others and will need continued assistance, however, an additional mass-distribution of direct stimulus checks should not be needed, assuming the vaccine is successful and mitigation efforts continue.

“I think we should make a distinction with what we were facing back in April and May and what we are facing now,” says Bydlak. “In that environment of the spring, getting cash out to people as quickly as possible is a very worthwhile economic policy in my opinion and it is very hard to target.”

Cox Media Group