Senate GOP proposing second round of $1,200 stimulus checks

Senate Republicans are proposing a second round of stimulus checks as part of a coronavirus relief proposal they are unveiling on Monday.

The GOP package would provide a $1,200 check to individuals who make up to $75,000 per year or a $2,400 check for married couples who make up to $150,000, according to details from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Those amounts would then be scaled down until an income threshold of $99,000 for an individual or $198,000 for married couples is reached.

“This unprecedented expansion of federal assistance will help millions of workers, families, patients, businesses and governments survive this historic public health and economic crisis,” Grassley said in a statement.

The language largely mirrors the coronavirus bill passed in March. Like the CARES Act, it also proposes an additional $500 per dependent.

Unlike the March bill, however, dependents of any age would qualify for an additional $500 check.

Under the previous legislation, adult dependent children, such as college students, did not qualify for the additional money.

The GOP package would also prevent the checks from being garnished by private creditors or debt collectors and apply the same protections retroactively to the $1,200 checks sent out under the CARES Act.

The Senate passed legislation last week to prevent the stimulus checks from being garnished by private debt collectors. But the House needs to pass similar legislation, something it hasn’t yet done.

The $1,200 for individuals who make up to $75,000 per year lines up the GOP proposal with a bill passed by the House along party lines in May.

But there is an important difference.

Unlike the GOP bill, House Democrats proposed an additional $1,200 check per dependent for up to three dependents.