A fourth federal stimulus check for $1,200, $1,400, or even $2,000 isn’t on the horizon, but many across the U.S. will be getting stimulus payments. States are acting in absence of an additional round of economic relief as federal boosts to jobless benefits across the U.S. expired over the weekend.
RELATED: Fourth round of stimulus checks of $600 or more have already been approved in these states
Child tax credit advance payments have been going out for two months, and a third round is set to hit bank accounts by way of direct deposit in a week. The calls for a fourth round of stimulus payments, including a petition with hundreds of thousands of signatures, are growing louder as COVID’s Delta Variant picks up steam and kids head back to school with mask and vaccine mandates on deck.
Why hasn’t a fourth stimulus payment been approved?
Congress has been focusing on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which is intended to act as a form of stimulus for the economy-at-large over the next several years. Investing in roads, bridges, and other essential infrastructure through the first major deal in years will mean millions of job opportunities and economic growth over its lifetime.
While many have cheered the infrastructure bill, others have condemned it – seeing it a distraction from the public health crisis that continues to hurt the economy.
The jobs report that came out last week disappointed on all fronts – forcing the White House and Biden Administration to address the lowly numbers, as Delta surges, and parents struggle to find child care amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Another issue is that the Biden Administration has said openly that it doesn’t view direct aid, or stimulus, as a means out of the current economic crisis – if it can be called that.
What happens if you still haven’t received other stimulus payments?
Believe it or not there are still a lot of people who haven’t received one of the previous stimulus payments, which were approved in waves during late-2020 and early-2021.
The IRS has provided tools for tracking, which are being updated daily. The agency says that anyone who is owed money at the end of the year will be able to get it through their tax return completed for 2021.
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