Schumer said “bold change” would be on the agenda.
“One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated is deliver the $2,000 check” to help people get through the coronavirus pandemic, he said, according to Reuters.
The issue of bigger checks for individuals was blocked in late 2020 as Sen. Mitch McConnell refused to take up the issue.
Thus far, the checks have been $600 for adults and children alike, and the government has begun sending them out to qualified families through direct deposit, a method which has been able to reach two-thirds of recipients as of Tuesday (Jan. 5). There will also be payments made via paper checks and through pre-set credit cards.
McConnell’s initial plan was to tie the $2,000 checks to other, unrelated measures of legislation including removing liabilities for social media companies and to instigate an investigation into reported voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The initial rollout of $1,200 stimulus checks from the spring of 2020 under the CARES Act saw numerous issues, including delayed payments not seen for months or not at all. The PYMNTS’ Disbursements Tracker for December notes that the better, more efficient way to do things could be with digital, instant disbursements that couldn’t be lost in the mail and wouldn’t take a long time to be delivered.
That could also allow for better security and more immediate recovery of the economy. Shedding old paper practices, PYMNTS writes, is a method being used to help move money more quickly.
Ingo Money CEO Drew Edwards told PYMNTS that the digitization efforts “means to deliver government disbursements in real time and with choice, making all relevant account types and payment methods available in a 24/7 omnichannel experience.”
