UPDATE: On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the federal government would begin sending out direct deposits for the $600 payments as early as Tuesday night and paper checks could start being mailed Wednesday.
NORTH CAROLINA — The president signed the new $900 billion coronavirus relief bill into law over the weekend, along with the $1.4 trillion federal budget. The new federal stimulus bill will increase unemployment payments for North Carolinians and includes $600 checks for most Americans.
The House voted Monday to increase those individual payments to $2,000 after President Donald Trump threatened not to sign the bill, but it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Senate would agree to increase the amount on the checks.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the Democrats from bringing the $2,000 checks up for an immediate vote Tuesday. McConnell said the Senate would “begin a process” to take up the issue, according to the Associated Press.
The new stimulus deal, which passed through Congress before Christmas, included 11 weeks worth of higher unemployment checks for people out of work.
The additional $300 for people receiving unemployment is set to expire on March 14, so it appears that there will now just be 10 weeks with bigger unemployment checks.
It’s not clear when people receiving unemployment will start getting more money in North Carolina.
“States are awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor about how to implement the new and extended federal benefits. These benefits cannot be paid until official guidance is received and the benefits system is reprogrammed,” North Carolina’s Division of Employment Security said in a message on its website.
“The N.C. Division of Employment Security is reviewing the new unemployment provisions of the federal COVID-19 relief bill and preparing to reprogram its system to process claims for the additional benefits,” according to the division, which is in charge of unemployment claims in the state.
The unemployment situation in North Carolina has seen some improvement since the initial lockdowns during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, but the unemployment rate in the state is still above 6%.
North Carolina will also get help for increasing SNAP food benefits by 15% and get funds for rental assistance. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates North Carolina will get almost $700 million to help people avoid getting evicted.
Similar to the checks sent out earlier this year, the federal government is set to send out a new round of stimulus checks. Currently, the stimulus deal includes $600 checks for every person making less than $75,000 a year, with lower payments for people making more.
Married couples making less than $150,000 will get $1,200 under the deal.
The deal also includes $600 checks to parents for each dependent child under 17.
People who make more than $87,000, and couples making more than $174,000, will not be getting any money from the new stimulus bill, unless lawmakers make any changes, according to the Tax Foundation.
The president called on lawmakers to increase payments to $2,000 per person. The House passed a measure to increase the direct payments Monday, but it’s unlikely that the Senate will agree to up the amount.
The Senate could take up the increase this week.
It’s not clear when the federal government will start cutting a second round of checks for people, especially as lawmakers continue to debate increasing the amount.
But, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said, the checks could go out a lot faster than they did in the spring.
“This is a very, very fast way of getting money into the economy. Let me emphasize: People are going to see this money at the beginning of next week,” Mnuchin said during an interview with CNBC before Christmas.
CNN reports direct deposits could start going out as soon as this week.
So if Congress settles the question of how much the stimulus checks will be for, the federal government could start sending out direct deposits and checks relatively quickly.