$1,400 stimulus checks just got one step closer to reality. Here’s what to know

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Summer Lin
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Portions of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus deal, including $1,400 direct payments, were approved by a House committee on Thursday, paving the way to pass the proposal without needing GOP support.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved $593.5 billion in benefits, which also includes tax credits for children, on a 24-18 vote along party lines, Bloomberg reported. The committees are on track to finish their work on the proposal Friday, with a full House vote scheduled for the week of Feb. 22, according to the publication.

“The $600 rebates that Congress delivered in December didn’t do enough,” Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington state Democrat, said during the panel’s debate, Bloomberg reported. “This is critical relief to help families weather this crisis.”

The child tax credit would begin in July and comprise of $300 monthly payments for children 5 and younger and $250 a month for children 6 and older, according to Bloomberg. It would be an increase from the current $2,000 maximum child credit, amounting to $3,600 for younger children and $3,000 for older ones under the new proposal.

Democrats are hoping to pass the stimulus deal before March 14, the day that $300 weekly unemployment benefits approved in December’s coronavirus package expire. That timeline has added to lawmakers’ desire for budget reconciliation, a process that allows for “expedited consideration” of legislation on spending, taxes and debt. Reconciliation would allow Democrats to bypass the 60-vote requirement for advancing the legislation without a filibuster.

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, released legislation on Monday that would provide $1,400 checks to individuals earning up to $75,000 a year and married couples earning up to $150,000 a year — the same income thresholds in Biden’s emergency plan released in January.

The new plan has a faster phase-out than in previous proposals, capping payments at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples.

Some Republicans have balked at the cost of the package and called for more “targeted” relief for families during the pandemic.

In order for the bill to pass, Democrats will likely need the vote of Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, who has said that he wants to limit payments for those “truly in need.”

“So if they can show that $75,000 and $150,000 is truly in need,” then he’d support it, Manchin said about House Democrats, Politico reported.

Biden, who previously said he’d be open to lowering the income requirements, confirmed Tuesday that he supported the latest House proposal to keep the $75,000 threshold for individuals and $150,000 for couples.

Senate Democrats are also reportedly floating the idea of skipping the committees and bringing the legislation for a vote, Punchbowl News reported. The process would be speedier than the the budget reconciliation route as lawmakers are scrambling for time ahead of the Mar.ch 14 deadline.

After the House vote scheduled for the week of Feb. 22, Senate and House leaders would “pre-conference” any issues and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, would take the bill to the Senate floor, according to Punchbowl News. Schumer would only change the House bill after consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and other senators, and that legislation will get a vote. It would then go back to the House for a final vote before going to Biden for his sign-off.

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