Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Ed Markey to introduce a Senate bill to give Americans $2,000 a month until the coronavirus crisis ends

• Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Ed Markey will introduce a bill to give Americans an additional $2,000 a month for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
• The bill would give $2,000 a month to every American with an income of less than $120,000 for the duration of the crisis, and for three months after, according to a release.
• Married couples filing jointly would get $4,000, and $2,000 for each child up to three children.
• The funds would be available to all U.S. residents, including those who had not filed taxes or did not have a social security card.
• This is a key difference from the $1,200 one-time stimulus provided by the CARES Act.
• House Democrats proposed a similar bill in April that would give $2,000 a month to U.S. citizens until the emergency was over.
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As the U.S. unemployment rate climbs to heights not seen since the Great Depression, three Senators plan to introduce a bill that would grant an additional $2,000 a month in relief for Americans as the coronavirus crisis continues.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Ed Markey (D-MA) announced their plan to introduce the Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act on Friday. The proposal will likely face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, as the chamber considers a fourth phase of its legislative response to the pandemic.

The bill would provide $2,000 a month to every American with an income of less than $120,000 for the duration of the crisis, and for three months after, according to a statement provided by Harris' office. Married couples who file jointly would receive $4,000, and $2,000 a month for each child for up to three children.

The payments begin to phase out starting at $100,000 in income, the senators said in a statement.

In a key difference from previous congressional relief, the funds would be available to all U.S. residents, regardless of whether they had filed a tax return or had a social security number. The senators said that the program would also use data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income, (SSI), Medicare and housing assistance programs.

"I've been saying it for months: a one-time payment is not enough when millions of people are unemployed and need to eat," Harris tweeted. "We need bold action, immediately.

"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," Sanders said in a statement. "If we can bail out large corporations, we can make sure that everyone in this country has enough income to pay for the basic necessities of life."

Markey, who is facing a primary challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy, echoed that sentiment in a tweet of his own, writing, "A single check is not sufficient for households that are struggling during #COVID19. Americans need more than just one payment."

A similar bill to give $2,000 a month to U.S. citizens earning less than $130,000 until the end of the crisis was proposed by two House Democrats in April.

Sanders had proposed $2,000 payments back in March when Congress was still putting together it's first massive relief package, Insider's Charles Davis reported.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act cost an estimated $2 trillion and ultimately included a one-time payment of $1,200 dollars to every American earning less than $99,000 for single filers, $136,500 for heads of household, or $198,000 for married filers. The idea of issuing a one-time stimulus payment gained support among Republicans after Senator Mitt Romney proposed giving every American $1,000.

The bill also bolstered unemployment benefits for people who had lost their jobs due to lockdown orders that forced businesses to close, made more people eligible for unemployment funds, and granted people who applied for unemployment an additional $600 a month until the end of July.

The CARES Act was signed into law by President Trump on March 27 with bipartisan support.

But many Americans have not yet received their first stimulus check. And some Republicans like South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott have been loathe for Congress to extend the unemployment payments outlined in the bill, arguing that it will incentivize people to stay home rather than return to work when businesses can reopen.

In late April, Graham said that Congress would extend these unemployment benefits past July "over our dead bodies."