Claudia Sahm on evidence for $1400 relief and recovery checks
Drawing on over a decade of rigorous research, JFI Senior Fellow Claudia Sahm presents evidence in favor of additional $1400 checks for all those that received $600 in 2019. Published February 17, 2021.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and widespread economic hardship, a debate is taking place over who should get a $1,400 check and the overall size of the $1.9 trillion Biden relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan. To lower the price tag, Republicans want to lower the income cutoff for a $1,400 check from $75,000 per adult—as was the case in the CARES Act and the December package—to $50,000 per adult.
Lowering the income threshold would mean that 71% of households would get a $1,400 check, down from 84% who got a $600 check, according to Kyle Pomerleau at the American Enterprise Institute. That is about 50 million people who would not see their relief topped up to $2,000, as Democratic leadership in Congress and President Biden promised if the Democrats won the Georgia special elections, which they did. This brief provides extensive evidence on how the checks benefit people and help spur an economic recovery for all. Drawing on over a decade of rigorous research, I argue that checks should be in the next relief package and that everyone who received a $600 check should receive a $1,400 check.