3 House Democrats unveil a plan to send $100 monthly gas checks to Americans and provide relief from rising prices
- A group of House Democrats introduced a plan for monthly gas checks to families.
- It would provide $100 for singles earning below $75,000 and $200 for couples making under $150,000.
Three House Democrats introduced a bill last week to provide Americans with monthly direct payments through 2022 — or, at least, while prices remain exceptionally high.
Reps. Mike Thompson of California, Lauren Underwood of Illinois, and John Larson of Connecticut unveiled the plan. It would provide $100 monthly checks to individuals and $200 to couples while the national gas price average is $4 a gallon or above. Households would also be able to claim another extra $100 for each dependent they claimed on their tax returns.
"Americans are feeling the impact at the pump of Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, and right now we must work together on commonsense policy solutions to ease the financial burden that my constituents are feeling," Thompson said in a statement.
The income thresholds are similar to those of the third and final stimulus check issued last year: Individual tax filers making under $75,000 and couples making $150,000 would qualify for the cash. Singles earning above $80,000 and joint filers earning more than $160,000 wouldn't be eligible.
It comes as Democrats scramble to try and address high prices at the pump in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The average price per gallon nationwide stands at $4.25, according to AAA, dropping only $0.08 from a week ago. Part of the reason for the dip, the group said, is lower prices for crude oil.
The plan faces long odds to become law. Republicans are pummeling Democrats over the spike in gas prices, and they tend to be wary of providing direct aid with no strings attached. Other Democrats opened the door to supporting some version of the energy rebate without committing to it.
"I'm very interested in all the ways to get relief to that driver at the pump," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told Insider last week. "I'm looking at it."
Another plan introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island would provide quarterly payments to Americans funded by a tax on profitable oil companies.
Other Democratic measures on the table include suspending the federal gas tax for the rest of the year. It's an approach favored by a pair of Senate Democrats from Arizona and New Hampshire facing tough reelection bids. But Republicans assailed the idea as a short-term gimmick, and not every Democrat is on board.