Kevin Miller
CNBC’s Kayla Tausche reports on the latest comments from Republicans at the White House as stimulus discussions continue. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi
Many Americans hope a second stimulus check is on the table in the next coronavirus relief package.
Starting this week, we get to see if Congress agrees.
President Donald Trump has said he is willing to send more direct payments to Americans. More recently, however, the White House has emphasized payroll tax cuts in order to get more money into Americans’ hands.
House Democrats included a second set of $1,200 stimulus checks in the HEROES Act, only this time with more generous payments of up to $6,000 per family.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he would like to bring the threshold to qualify down to $40,000. Such a move would dramatically reduce the number of Americans who would be eligible.
It all comes as Republicans and Democrats seek to meet somewhere in the middle between the approximate $3 trillion the proposed HEROES Act would cost and the $1 trillion McConnell has said the government should target in the next package.
Also on the table are a host of other ways to shore up the ailing U.S. economy: enhanced unemployment benefits, back-to-work bonuses, business loans, coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment, and aid to state and local governments.
Stimulus checks may very well still make the cut, said Mark Mazur, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
“Both the House Democrats and Senate Republicans seem to want to do this,” Mazur said.
The size of those checks may be determined by last-minute negotiations, he said.
A new $40,000 income cap was suggested by McConnell in order to target low-income Americans who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
Even if that new limit is approved, the structure of the payments would likely be similar to the last round of checks, Mazur said.
Those checks were cut largely based on previous tax returns – for either 2018 or 2019 – for Americans who file, or federal benefits for those who receive them.
That means the $40,000 threshold could again be based on adjusted gross income, though we don’t know for sure at this point, Mazur said.
Like last time, there would also likely be a phase out. The CARES Act provided for individuals with up to $75,000 in income to get full $1,200 payments, while those earning up to $99,000 received reduced checks.
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic
Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
For info on the best credit cards go to CNBC Select:
https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-credit-cards/
#CNBC
#CNBCTV
