Nearly 3 million people have signed a petition demanding that Congress issue a fourth stimulus check
- A Change.org petition calling for a fourth round of stimulus checks has almost 3 million signatures.
- A Colorado restaurant owner posted the petition last year and it's been gaining traction since.
Support for a fourth stimulus check continues to grow as a petition calling on Congress to deliver another round of aid nears 3 million signatures.
The petition has been gaining traction since its creator, Stephanie Bonin, posted it to Change.org last year. Since then, it's continued to attract signatures, potentially indicating that Americans feel they're in need of direct federal support as many of them struggle to recover from the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I'm calling on Congress 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," Bonin, a Colorado restaurant owner, wrote on the page for the petition. "Otherwise, laid-off workers, furloughed workers, the self-employed, and workers dealing with reduced hours will struggle to pay their rent or put food on the table."
In the petition, Bonin urged Congress to issue "immediate checks and recurring payments."
"Congress needs to make sure that we won't be left financially ruined for doing our part to keep the country healthy," she wrote.
So far, there have been three rounds of stimulus checks.
Eligible Americans received $1,400 stimulus checks in March as part of Democrats' $1.9 trillion stimulus package. The Trump administration issued two stimulus checks nine months apart: The checks in the first round were $1,200, and those in the second were $600.
It's unclear whether there will be a fourth round. Back in May, the White House threw the ball in Congress' court, saying it's up to lawmakers to determine whether a fourth stimulus would be issued.
But, as Insider's Joseph Zeballos-Roig wrote, a fourth stimulus check is unlikely. That's because the economy is slowly regaining jobs since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, allowing businesses to ramp back up.
But the petition illustrates that there is wide support for not only a single round but also recurring stimulus checks. Bonin's petition garnered so much support that Change.org recognized it in its list of 10 petitions that changed 2020.
Some states, like California and Florida, have begun sending out direct payments on their own to help residents offset any continued financial devastation.