New Coronavirus Relief Package Proposed With Second Round of Stimulus Checks for Americans

Republicans have proposed a new coronavirus relief package with a second round of stimulus check payments, a draft summary of the proposal confirms. According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the new package will be the “exact same proposal as last time.”

New Covid-19 Relief Proposal

As lawmakers debate over a new coronavirus relief aid package, Americans are eager to know if they will receive another round of direct payments. According to a draft proposal obtained by The New York Times on Thursday, there will be a second round of stimulus checks.

Stimulus payments “will be included, but the amount of the payment and eligibility criteria are TBA,” the document reads, without giving further details. This new proposal is the Republican response to the Democrats’ $3 trillion HEROES Act which the House passed on May 15 but the bill has not cleared the Senate.

As for how much each person will receive, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday that the new proposal will include a stimulus check in the amount of $1,200 — just as provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill President Donald Trump signed into law in March. This assumption was based on a remark by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said when referring to a second stimulus check:

We’re talking about the same provision as last time, so our proposal is the exact same proposal as last time.

However, Mnuchin could have erred as he did with the payroll tax cut when he said it was “in the bill,” but the GOP draft showed that it was not, Forbes noted. Due to the expected similarity to the CARES Act, the new stimulus package has been dubbed CARES Act 2.

Moreover, there are some benefits for keeping the size and income eligibility of the new stimulus payments the same as they were previously. Not only would it be easier to negotiate a compromised version of the proposal with Democrats, but payment distribution would also be easier and faster. “If the parameters stayed the same, we could do it really quickly,” Senator John Thune commented.

The draft proposal document also shows that “There will be some type of extension of the enhanced benefits” for unemployment, “but likely not $600 a week.” As for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), “There will be streamlined loan forgiveness for small loans under $150K” and an “Intermediate forgiveness process for loans under $1 million.” The full proposal document can be found here.

People have been discussing on social media how much the new stimulus package will help Americans. Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that in his opinion:

Another government stimulus package is not in the best interest of the people. As a reminder, I’m in favor of universal basic income.

Many people disagreed with him, pointing out that his company Tesla Inc. was a major beneficiary of the government’s first stimulus package.

While the Trump administration has requested more time to review the details of the proposal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the press that the proposal will be released on Monday when the Senate convenes. Republicans are spending the weekend hammering out details with the White House, meaning that some parts of the current draft proposal could change. Furthermore, McConnell said Friday that reaching an agreement could take several weeks.

Do you think Americans should get more stimulus checks? Let us know in the comments section below.

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via Kevin Helms