At this rate, it’s looking like a third round of stimulus checks could be arriving before the first day of spring.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that the House hopes to pass its massive economic aid package, including $1,400 stimulus checks, by the end of February, and “certainly [have it] on the President’s desk in time to offset the March 14 deadline where some unemployment benefits will expire.”
If that timeline plays out and President Biden signs a relief bill, $1,400 direct payments—assuming the amount doesn’t change during negotiations—would likely start to deposit into Americans’ accounts within a few days of passage. The $600 checks in December took less than a week to start clearing. If the bill is signed before March 14, as Pelosi hopes, the checks could be deposited or in the mail before the last day of winter on March 20.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told Fortune he agrees with Pelosi’s optimistic timetable. “I think the next fiscal relief package will be passed by mid-March,” Zandi said, “just in time to pick up the slack from the fading support provided by the $900 billion relief package passed last December.”
Last week Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer started the budget reconciliation process, a necessary procedural step that would enable supporters to pass the bill through the Senate with just 51 votes. On Monday, Democrats released early plans for $1,400 stimulus checks. The House proposal, as currently drafted, would send $1,400 stimulus checks to individuals earning up to $75,000, and a $2,800 check to couples filing jointly with incomes under $150,000. Those are the same income thresholds that applied to the $1,200 and $600 direct payments sent in 2020. (Those whose income exceeded the thresholds would receive smaller payments.)
The House Ways and Means Committee has proposed a higher ceiling, cutting off $1,400 checks for those earning more than $100,000 (based on adjusted gross income), and for couples filing together at $200,000. Filers with dependents (children, and, for the first time, adult dependents) could qualify for $1,400 per dependent, according to a summary of the proposal.
As for next steps, Speaker Pelosi said Thursday that House leaders will send the bill to the Budget Committee next week and, eventually, to the House floor.
The bill is by no means a done deal, and some elements might prove to be obstacles to passage. In particular, Democrats’ push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage could prove challenging to pass through budget reconciliation. Conservative members of the Democratic party like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia are opposed to the raise. (Pelosi said Thursday that the minimum wage proposal will be included in the relief package sent to the Senate.)
