An online petition for monthly stimulus checks of $2,000 has gained more than 127,000 new supporters over the past month, as the Delta variant continues to drive up coronavirus cases, deaths, and hospitalizations across the U.S.
The Change.org petition, launched by Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin last year, urges the U.S. House and Senate to deliver legislation to support families with a "$2,000 payment for adults and a $1,000 payment for kids immediately, and continuing regular checks for the duration of the crisis."
The petition has gained more than 2,854,500 signatures as of Saturday, with about 127,700 new supporters over the past four weeks. It will become one of Change.org's most signed if the petition hits its goal of 3 million signatures. "The most common reason [people sign] is that uncertain feeling," Bonin told Newsweek in July. "We're still in uncertain times."
Dozens of congressional lawmakers have been pushing for monthly stimulus checks since last May. But a recent bill for recurring direct payments hasn't drawn much traction, signaling that it's unlikely the Biden administration will get on board with any further federal cash payments.
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Democrat, introduced a bill on July 30 that would establish a federal universal basic income system. If passed, the five-year income pilot program would pay at least $1,200 per month to U.S. adults earning under $75,000, and dependents half the amount adults receive. Only four legislators—Democratic Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri, Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania, Jamaal Bowman of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington—have signed onto the legislation.
Twenty-one Democratic senators, led by Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, urged President Joe Biden to support recurring stimulus checks in a letter sent March 30. The lawmakers argued that the last federal direct payment of $1,400 wasn't enough to support low-income families struggling under the financial hardship of the ongoing pandemic.
The group included a broad range of Democrats, from moderates like Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Michael Bennet of Colorado, to progressives including Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and six committee chairs across judiciary, finance, agriculture, budget, armed services and banking.
The effort came after 56 House Democrats pressed Biden for recurring stimulus checks in a letter sent January, where they insisted "one more check is not enough."
"It was very encouraging to see the inclusion of direct cash assistance in your current economic rescue plan. However, it is clear that during this unprecedented time in our nation's history that we must take additional unprecedented action," the group wrote in the letter, spearheaded by Omar.
More than 150 economists, including Jason Furman, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, have also pushed for more recurring direct aid.
But the Biden administration has indicated that it's not a priority, focusing instead on advancing a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion budget bill, neither of which contain any direct payments.
