Second stimulus check: what did Mike Pence say about the second payment?
Even though Congress has not yet reached an agreement about a stimulus relief package, the Vice President has made the White House's position clear.
Right now Congress is on its summer break and won’t return back to work until after Labor Day weekend. After that it is expected that lawmakers will finally reach an agreement about a fifth stimulus relief package to provide further support through the pandemic. Negotiations have stalled because Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on a number of the bill's elements and how much it is going to cost the national purse.
Pence says President Trump strong on stimulus checks
On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence talked to CNBC and he assured those listening that the White House wants to send a second round of stimulus payments to Americans, even though Congress has so far failed to draft a bill.
“He [President Trump] said that we are going to spare no expense to help families and businesses, large and small, to weather the coronavirus pandemic.”
“Nobody wants to give direct payments to American families more than President Donald Trump again,” Pence continued. “We sent those checks to American families, it helped people through this tough time, we want to continue the Payment Protection Program…”
“What we’ve made clear is that we’re not going to allow Democrats in Congress to use a coronavirus relief bill to bail out poorly run Democratic states.”
Congress and the White House have an agreement in place to pass a bill to avoid a government shutdown, while not linking that to the relief bill, the Vice President also stated.
“Now, we can focus just on another relief bill, and we’re continuing to do that in good faith,” he told the Squawk on the Street show.
Both parties agree on the stimulus payments
Both parties have proposed a couple of bills that include a second round of stimulus checks worth up to $1,200 per individual, but what has failed in the negotiation are the other measures like state and local aid as well as school funding.
“You could easily see another round of stimulus checks that was exactly the same as the previous round (CARES Act), or more or less the same,” said Mark Mazur, director of Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Congress authorized those first checks when it passed the CARES Act in March. The payments included up to $1,200 per individual or $2,400 per married couple, plus $500 per child under age 17.
Possible changes in the second stimulus checks
Even though both parties have proposed a second stimulus payment worth up to $1,200 per individual, House Democrats want to raise money for dependents to $1,200 for a maximum of six children, while Republicans want to give $500 for dependents with no age restrictions.