The U.S. Congress approved a $900 billion economic bailout package on Dec. 20, and a second round of bailout checks will soon be in the bank accounts of millions of Americans. But there are some major differences in this round of bailouts, including a change of $600 per capita, which is half of the $1,200 the first round of bailouts provided for most adults. Just days ago, it was unclear whether the stimulus package would include another round of direct verifications. But last-minute negotiations cleared the way for a second round of stimulus package reviews.
Consumer-rights activists argued that it was necessary at a time when the epidemic is worsening and millions of Americans are still struggling with joblessness and no pay. However, one group of people who will get a little more money than they did when the first bailout package was introduced are dependent children, who will get the same $600 check as any other adult.On Dec. 20, he said that this is an emergency, and that we need a second bill to continue to deal with this emergency, to begin to stimulate our economy so we can get back to past levels, which will be a top priority of the new Biden administration. In addition to the small relief for adults, another major change is the allowance for dependent children, which is $600 per child, up from $500 under the CARE Act.
The summary released by the congressman says $600 will be allocated to each dependent child, which means adults who are considered dependents, such as college students, may not qualify for the allowance. Another question is whether adult dependents who are considered dependents on a child's tax return, such as seniors, would qualify for the benefit. This is important to many families because the first round of relief checks were only given to U.S. citizens or immigrants with foreign resident status, i.e., green card holders.
Legal and undocumented immigrants without green cards were excluded, as were U.S. citizens and their children who married immigrants without green cards. In addition to the $600 stimulus package, the second round includes an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers temporary workers and the self-employed, will also be extended, as will the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides an additional few weeks of unemployment assistance to those who do not have regular state unemployment benefits.