Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Ed Markey Introduce Bill That will Give Americans $2,000 Per Month Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Written By- @pistolwhippedya

According to CNN, Senators Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, along with Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will introduce a bill aimed at creating a rebate payment program that would deliver $2,000 to US residents, including children until the Covid-19 pandemic has ended.

If the bill is approved, Americans who make under $120,000 will receive monthly payments of $2,000. Married couples will receive $4,000, and $2,000 per child, with a max of three per household. Payments will last through the pandemic and three months after.

With the great advantage that debt collectors cannot seize the funds.

“The coronavirus pandemic has caused millions to struggle to pay the bills or feed their families,” said Harris in a statement. She cited the stimulus package as an important step but added it’s not enough. “Bills will continue to come in every single month during the pandemic, and so should help from the government. The Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act will ensure that families have the resources they need to make ends meet. I am eager to continue working with Senators Sanders and Markey as we push to pass this bill immediately.”

Sanders added his support.

“As a result of this horrific pandemic, tens of millions of Americans are living in economic desperation, not knowing where their next meal or paycheck will come from,” said Sanders. “The one-time $1,200 check that many Americans recently received is not nearly enough to pay the rent, put food on the table, and make ends meet. During this unprecedented crisis, Congress has a responsibility to make sure that every working-class household in America receives a $2,000 emergency payment a month for each family member.”

In March, Congress passed the CARES Act, which gave Americans a one-time payment of $1,200 and an extra $500 for each child in an attempt to provide relief due to COVID-19. Few GOP lawmakers have voiced their support for reoccurring aid. The bill presented by Harris, Sanders, and Markey must travel upstream through the Republican-led Senate, which may take time, seeing that it is reoccurring and more expensive than the CARES Act. The Senate must also agree on the stipulation that relief funds go to all Americans, even undocumented immigrants that do not have social security numbers but pay taxes.

The New York Times reports as of Friday; the unemployment rate has soared to 14.7 percent in April, making it the highest since the Great Depression. The figure is also a part of a larger picture of employment-based damage wrecked by the coronavirus, as the bulk of job growth that stacked up following the 11-year period after the Great Recession has been eradicated in just one month.

Harris was the first Democrat to support Bernie’s 2017 Medicare-for-all-bill, that according to CNN, caused a rift between the two during the 2020 primary election when she backed off the proposal and ultimately released her version that preserved the role of private insurance. A move Sander’s criticized.

However, the two have since joined together and voiced their disapproval of Trump and his administration’s handling of COVID-19. Like many other Democrats, both agree the government should be more proactive by adding consistent financial support to citizens during the economic downfall.

“I believe Trump has been the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country, and we’re seeing his narcissism, his ignorance playing out in terms of the pandemic we’re experiencing right now,” Sanders said to Stephen Colbert the day he dropped out of the presidential race in April.

“I think we will have to stop waiting for him to act like a president and just move in and talk about what is happening in states,” Harris told CNN in April.