When Marissa Ortega heard that Senate Democrats can place a limit on who can receive the $ 1,400 stimulus payment included in the US bailout, Marissa Ortega’s heart opened.
The 25-year-old Washington DC resident planned to use the money to rebuild her savings account after supporting her mother, grandmother and aunt for the past year. Ortega makes good money as a software engineer and didn’t lose any work during the pandemic. But she’s had to send thousands of dollars to her relatives – the three women who raised Ortega live in the same Texas home – to help them with their own Covid-related financial troubles.
She is one of many Americans frustrated that the Senate could change the income limits for the $ 1,400 stimulus payment. Under the bill passed by the House, direct payments will be phased out completely for individuals earning $ 100,000 or more in adjusted gross income (AGI) per year, $ 120,000 for single parents, and $ 200,000 for couples (which would be $ 2,800). to get). The Senate would reportedly change the limit so that no person who earns more than $ 80,000 and no couple who earns more than $ 160,000 will receive one.
The result: It is estimated that 12 million fewer adults and 4.6 million fewer children would qualify for the third incentive payment. And an estimated $ 12 billion was eliminated from the $ 1.9 trillion emergency aid bill.
The lower income limit to receive the full amount – up to $ 75,000 for individuals, $ 112,500 for single parents, and $ 150,000 for couples – currently remains the same. This is the second time Democrats have reportedly debated lowering the income thresholds for the third direct pay. Ortega says that would be a mistake.
“It may not seem like people with higher incomes are in pain, but there’s a ton an income just doesn’t tell you,” Ortega says. “I know I am not the only one who has incurred additional costs because of the pandemic.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the changes at a press conference on Thursday, saying that 98% of Americans who received the second stimulus payment are still eligible for the third, a claim supported by estimates from it. Penn-Wharton Budget Model. She also said the $ 1,400 check will bring in significantly more money to many families than the $ 600 payments. This last point would of course persist if the income limits remained the same.
Still, Ortega says it seems like President Joe Biden is not delivering on his promise to send $ 2,000 checks to financially struggling Americans.
“Now it is no longer $ 2000, but $ 1400,” she says. And now they change the limit, they change who gets it. Is it the same check? Of course not. ‘
‘A slap in the face’
Heather Jackson, 42, also lost no income during the pandemic and will still be eligible for the payment, but says the cutoffs are random and hurt families like hers. Jackson has seven children and is concerned about other parents just above the income limits.
The Indiana resident says the cost of childcare during the pandemic increased for many families, as did the cost of basic goods. It makes no sense for a couple with no children and an income of $ 150,000 to receive $ 2,800, while a couple with dependents who earn just over $ 160,000 get nothing, she says.
Anyone with children who meet the income requirements will receive $ 1,400 for each dependent child and for each dependent adult.
Rosemarie McKinney, 52, says the change is akin to a “ slap in the face ” for middle-class Americans who are not eligible for other public aid, such as SNAP benefits, but higher costs for food and other essentials during the pandemic had to bear things. .
“I certainly don’t want to be seen as a dislike for people with limited resources,” said McKinney, who lives in New York State. But to limit the threshold of those who would be eligible for this stimulus is just ridiculous with all the pork spending [toward] special projects. ‘”
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