New Proposal Excludes Millions From Stimulus Checks

That’s how many fewer people would get stimulus checks if a new more narrowly targeted U.S. Senate proposal replaces the one passed by the House of Representatives last month, a new analysis showed.

Because of narrower income limits, 4.6 million children and 11.7 million adults wouldn’t be eligible under a version the Senate plans to take up this week, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization.

Both proposals would make the same-sized cash payments—$1,400 per taxpayer plus $1,400 per dependent child—to people making $75,000 or less (or $150,000 in the case of married couples.) Where they differ is in how many higher earners would still be eligible for a downsized payment. The new Senate version, according to the ITEP, reduces the payments much more quickly—dropping them to $0 for taxpayers with at least $80,000 of income, compared to at least $100,000 under the House bill. (Both thresholds would be doubled for married couples.)

The stimulus checks are part of the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposed by President Joe Biden and passed by the Democrat-controlled House. Biden is “comfortable” with the new lower income thresholds, which were the result of “sausage-making” negotiations among Democratic lawmakers, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing Wednesday.