'We will pass another rescue package ASAP.' First votes Monday on $600 stimulus check, more - CNET

Congress could be very close to a vote on a stimulus package that includes a second stimulus check.

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Republicans and Democrats announced on Sunday afternoon they had signed off on the final details of a joint bipartisan deal that will fund the government for a year and deliver a $900 billion stimulus package that includes a second stimulus check of $600 and $300 in weekly unemployment insurance for out-of-work Americans. Originally slated for a vote on Sunday, the House of Representatives is now scheduled to vote on the COVID-19 stimulus bill Monday. The House's last Sunday vote will be to fund the government one more day until Monday's vote.

"Congress has just reached an agreement," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted Sunday. "We will pass another rescue package ASAP. More help is on the way."

The coronavirus relief package is set to renew critical expiring federal benefits at a time when the nation is seeing surging infections, hospitalizations and "horrific" deaths as a result of COVID-19. Federal inaction is projected to leave tens of millions of unemployed Americans without an income and expose millions of households facing eviction. 

"This emergency relief bill is an important initial step," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Sunday afternoon. "In 31 days, when Joe Biden enters the White House, more help will be on the way."

The second stimulus check is intended to go to the same recipients of the first stimulus check this year, Sen. John Barrasso said on Fox News Sunday. Pelosi described the direct payments as "worth up to $600 per adult and child, also ensuring that mixed-status families receive payments," in other words, families where one parent is not a US citizen. 

The qualifications in a second stimulus check appear not to expand the definition of who counts as a dependent, according to The Washington Post, a distinction that keeps the amount a second stimulus check would send to families more or less in line with the first check.

It isn't clear if the Senate would vote on Monday immediately after the COVID-19 stimulus bill were to pass the House. Much could depend on the time of day voting would end in the House.

Read more: Want a third stimulus bill? America's next Congress could hold the key

When could a stimulus bill or package pass?

House votes	Senate votes	President signs
Dec. 21	Dec. 21	Dec. 22
Dec. 21	Dec. 22	Dec. 22 (Trump signs same day)
Dec. 21	Dec. 22	Dec. 23

A broader package, like the $2.2 trillion CARES Act from March, is more likely to return to the table in early 2021, top US leaders have implied. It's too soon to tell if that sweeping package would seek a third stimulus check for $600 or $1,200.

"We're not leaving here without a COVID package. It's not gonna happen. We're gonna stay here until we get a COVID package," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Dec. 15. "No matter how long it takes, we'll be here."

Why isn't a $1,200 second stimulus check part of the bill?

A second stimulus check has had wide bipartisan support ever since the CARES Act passed. Over the last several months, everyone from President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden to members of Congress, economists and everyday people have advocated for another direct payment.

A vote on the new stimulus package could come soon.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Last week, Trump called for "more money than they're talking about" in stimulus checks, as large as $1,200 or $2,000 per person. Aides reportedly convinced him that making such demands would jeopardize a stimulus bill, The Washington Post reported.

Although many favor a $1,200 direct payment in theory, a second smaller stimulus check is seen as one way to keep costs below the $1 trillion cutoff that Republican lawmakers have in the past said they'd support. 

Stimulus checks aren't cheap. The IRS said this summer that it had spent $270 billion sending out 160 million checks, and on Monday, Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican who has been involved in crafting the bipartisan stimulus proposal, forecast a cost of $300 billion if the checks were once again included for $1,200 per person. Republicans reportedly bridled at the cost.

A variety of factors could have contributed to a second stimulus check making its way into the final bill at all, from popular opinion and presidential preference to that complicated bipartisan rejiggering mentioned above that freed up $160 billion, enough for a smaller stimulus check than before. 

Now playing: Watch this: Next stimulus checks: What to expect

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Where did the $900 billion stimulus package come from?

The $900 billion stimulus proposal is the latest variation of a $908 billion proposal from Dec. 1 that by Monday was split into two parts. The first is a core bill worth $748 billion, which contains the unemployment funding and other measures. The second is a $160 billion bill that carves off the two most contentious issues that could capsize an agreement: money for state, local and tribal funding on one hand; and a liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits on the other.

Neither lobe of the two-part stimulus deal contained a second stimulus check, but with the thorniest issues sloughed off, the key Democratic and Republican negotiators are seizing the monetary wiggle room to fund the popular stimulus check at a reduced rate. 

How soon could stimulus package aid go out?

First, the stimulus bill would need to pass the House and Senate. If both chambers are working together on a deal now, there's a good chance that would happen. Next, Trump would need to sign the rescue bill into law. After that, aid would likely begin to go out within weeks, with certain groups possibly receiving financial help before the end of 2020.

If a bill does pass that includes a direct payment, here's how quickly we think the IRS could send a second stimulus check.

Will there be yet another stimulus bill in 2021?

Biden, McConnell and others have repeatedly described this December legislation as emergency relief instead of a sweeping economic stimulus package, and have committed to another stimulus bill in 2021.

"It's a down payment," Biden said Dec. 16. "An important down payment on what's going to have to be done at the end of January and into February. But it's very important to get done."

Here's everything we know right now about the chances of a third stimulus check in 2021.

For more information about stimulus checks, here's how soon you might get your second stimulus check now, what you should do to speed up the delivery of a potential second check, and what to know about the HEALS, CARES and Heroes stimulus bill proposals that could help inform a final package.

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