Federal incentive checks are being prepared for printing at the Philadelphia Financial Center.
Jeff Fusco | Getty Images News | Getty images
Some Americans will get new coronavirus stimulus checks this weekend, the White House said Thursday.
The news from White House press secretary Jen Psaki came minutes after President Joe Biden signed the $ 1.9 trillion Covid bill.
“People can expect direct deposits to be credited to their bank accounts this weekend,” Psaki said at a news conference.
“This is, of course, just the first wave,” Psaki noted, adding that “payments to eligible Americans will continue in the coming weeks.”
In addition to billions of dollars in funding for vaccinations, state and local governments, and other areas, the plan will send direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to the majority of Americans.
It would also extend an unemployment insurance increase of $ 300 a week until Sept. 6 and extend the tax credit for children by one year.
Use Grow’s auxiliary calculator to see how much you could receive under the new law:
The massive bill, which most Americans support, passed through Congress without any support from Republican lawmakers. The Democrat-led House and Senate pushed the bill through Congress through the budget reconciliation process.
“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said before signing the legislation. “And give people in this country, working people, middle class people, the people who built this country a chance to fight.”
Biden will deliver his first primetime address to the nation on Thursday night. He will discuss the bill and provide a cautiously optimistic view of the next steps in the fight against the pandemic.
“He intends to give a clear outline of his approach, on par with the American people about what is required of them, but also to give a sense of hope about what is possible,” said Psaki during the briefing.
Scheduled to begin just after 8 p.m. ET, the speech comes on Biden’s 50th day as president and on the one-year anniversary of strict lockdown measures imposed across the country to slow the transmission of the virus. .