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STIMULUS CHECKS

Second stimulus check: what is the deadline to close the federal budget for the 2021 fiscal year?

When Congressional lawmakers come back to the table in September, they will have to iron out their differences quickly in other to get a bill passed into law before the federal budget deadline.

Update:
US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the 2020 Council for National Policy Meeting at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia on August 21, 2020. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)
NICHOLAS KAMMAFP

Senate Republicans and Democrats took leave for summer recess on Thursday 13 August with no deal on a new coronavirus relief package in sight.

The two parties have very different perspectives on what a new coronavirus stimulus bill should look like and how much it should cost. Democrats have proposed a $3 trillion bill known as the HEROES Act, while Republicans have called for a more modest $1 trillion spend under its HEALS Act proposal. (Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has already offered to cut her party’s proposal in half in order to reach a deal).

Other issues include enhanced unemployment insurance – Democrats wanted to extend a $600 weekly benefits boost until the end of the year, while Republicans proposed lowering this figure to $400 – and how much to spend on financial aid for state and local governments. Democrats sought $915 billion, but Republicans were unwilling to countenance.

Both parties are extremely divided on a number of issues, a situation that has become commonplace in the current political climate. But while they have very different perspectives on what a stimulus bill should look like, one thing both parties agree on is the need for a second round of stimulus checks.

US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, holds her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. on 13 August.
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US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, holds her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. on 13 August.JIM WATSONAFP

When is the federal budget deadline?

When Congressional lawmakers come back to the table in September, they will have to iron out their differences as quickly as possible in other to get a bill passed into law before the federal budget deadline.

Although they could be called back sooner to vote if congressional Democrats, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are able to find a breakthrough. Otherwise, the Senate will reconvene on 8 September, with the House to follow on 14 September.

Then lawmakers will make one last push to hammer out a deal before the end of the fiscal year on 30 September, the date for which the federal budget for fiscal year 2021 must be finalized.