"Another Band-Aid over a gaping wound': New House proposal for more one-time stimulus checks falls short of what many Democrats wanted

• House Democrats unveiled a massive spending plan that includes another round of $1,200 stimulus checks for American families.
• But that element fell short of what many Democrats had sought — a sustained wave of ongoing payments during the pandemic.
• "I'm disappointed but I also know the possibility of getting ongoing payments through the Senate didn't exist," one House Democratic lawmaker told Business Insider.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

House Democrats unveiled a $3 trillion spending proposal on Tuesday to combat the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the American economy.

Among its key provisions: another round of one-time $1,200 stimulus checks to millions of Americans. It would be modeled on the direct payments under the CARES Act that Congress approved at the end of March.

But the proposal falls short of what many Democrats and progressive advocacy groups had sought for the next coronavirus relief package — a steady stream of payments to prop up vulnerable Americans during the economic crisis.

Several Democratic lawmakers had rolled out plans for $2,000 monthly checks over the past two months. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Ed Markey introduced a plan for it on Friday.

The Economic Security Project, an organization that backs universal basic income and lobbied lawmakers to support recurring payments, said the stimulus check plan falls "well short" and would barely cover one month's rent in many parts of the country.

"Put simply, the one-time payment in this bill is just another Band-Aid over a gaping wound that is getting bigger every day," the group said in its Tuesday statement.

However, the new House plan for additional payments is different in two key ways. It expands the program to include $500 for every dependent, not just children under the age of 17. It would also require people to have a taxpayer identification number to receive the money, opening the door for more immigrants to get the cash.

Over 33 million Americans have either lost their jobs or filed for unemployment benefits in the last two months as a result of the pandemic ravaging the economy, underscoring the severity of the downturn.

Eight Democrats in the House and Senate sent a letter to congressional leaders on Monday urging direct payments to American families throughout the pandemic.

"Without ongoing and robust direct payments lasting at least the duration of this crisis, we will fail to address the pain our communities are experiencing from this crisis," the letter read.

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Business Insider reached out for comment to each office: Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Jamie Raskin, Emanuel Cleaver, Veronica Escobar, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sen. Kamala Harris was one of the signatories as well.

Tlaib's office declined to comment and other offices did not respond. Two did.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Democrat of Missouri, said in an interview that he acknowledged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "had to make choices" and expressed disappointment that recurring cash payments had been left out of the proposal.

"I'm disappointed but I also know the possibility of getting ongoing payments through the Senate didn't exist," Cleaver told Business Insider. "I think the Speaker had to make choices, so what they decided to do was at least get $1,200 payments to Americans one time. We had a better chance getting that through than recurring payments."

Cleaver, who sits on the House Financial Services Committee, said ongoing payments would not have likely drawn GOP votes in the Senate. Republicans have declared the House proposal dead-on-arrival and expressed alarm over the surging federal debt in recent weeks.

"Everything we do, we have to have a taste of realism," Cleaver said. "I was one of the proponents and sponsors of the legislation to do recurring checks, but there's no point in me screaming at Nancy Pelosi, and I've never heard her suggest we're doing too much for poor people."

He pointed to the provision keeping the$600 weekly increase in unemployment insurance through January as a strength and said he would support the House legislation — though adding more federal spending would be needed in the long run, perhaps in the form of an infrastructure bill.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, said that while the bill was imperfect, it provided a foundation for Democrats to build on going forward. He had supported sustained payments, as well as another plan from Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal to subsidize businesses and cover their payrolls. The latter was left out of the House proposal.

"It's an unfolding project but I think it's a remarkable opening as it does address the magnitude of the crisis faced by states and localities across the country," he told Business Insider in an interview, referring to its provision extending emergency aid to states.

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