President Joe Biden speaks to the press before a meeting in the Oval Office with lawmakers in the White House March 3, 2021, in Washington, DC to discuss cancer legislation.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Saturday that Americans will start getting their stimulus checks this month, as Democrats rush to send more aide out.
“When we took office 45 days ago, I promised the American people that help was on the way. Today, I can say we’ve taken one more giant step forward in delivering on that promise that help is on the way,” Biden said in an afternoon press conference.
“This plan will get checks out the door starting this month to the Americans that so desperately need the help,” the president said.
The Senate passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package earlier in the day, sending it back to the House for final approval. The Democratic-held House aims to pass the bill on Tuesday. It’ll then be passed to Biden for his signature, which is expected before a March 14 deadline, when enhanced federal unemployment benefits are due to expire.
The legislation includes direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans, a $300 weekly boost to jobless benefits into September and an expansion of the child tax credit for one year. The checks start to phase out at $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for heads of households, and $150,000 for joint filers.
Similar to the first two stimulus checks, the majority of payments will be sent through direct deposit to those who already have their bank information filed with the IRS. Based on the last $600 checks, that money could start to arrive within two weeks of the legislation getting finalized, according to Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.
The rest of the direct payments will go out by mail either as debit cards or checks. Those payments may take longer to arrive, potentially into April and May, Watson said.
— CNBC’s Lorie Konish contributed to this report.
