Updates on the new stimulus
Dear Neighbor,
As you've probably heard, Congress passed a new stimulus package totaling $900 billion in relief. While I don't work in Washington — in fact, the bill leaves state governments out entirely, which is a conversation for another email — I felt it important to share a few details of the package with you.
First of all, as you may know, there's direct cash stimulus. $600 payments will go to individuals making up to $75,000 and married couples making up to $150,000 will receive $1,200. Families slightly over that income level will get slightly smaller stimulus checks. For each dependent child, a qualifying household will receive an additional $600. Unfortunately, this money will only go to people with Social Security numbers. However, unlike the CARES Act, individuals with Social Security numbers in mixed-status families will receive a stimulus check in this round of relief.
There's also an extension of the supplemental unemployment benefit. It will be extended at $300 a week for the first 11 weeks of the year — that is, until mid-March. Everyone who qualifies for unemployment, whether it's traditional UI or the PUA program, will be eligible for this extension. For those current recipients, there may be a slight gap between the payment you receive in late December and when the payments begin again in January, but it won't affect your benefit levels.
And the package included a few provisions on housing. The federal government will distribute $25 billion to the states to help renters who have fallen behind. This assistance will be income-qualified and based on COVID-related financial hardship. There will also be an extension of a federal limitation on new evictions, and FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loans have extended the deadline to February 28 for borrowers to request loan forbearance.
There's plenty more, including a new round of PPP loans, childcare and K-12 money, and vaccine distribution funding.
As always, if you have any questions about this, please just respond to this email or call our office at (773) 853-2570. It's far from the level of support we need, but I hope that for those of you who are facing financial hardship, there's at least some reassuring news here.
Please be well, stay safe, and have a healthy and happy holiday season.
Sincerely,
- Will