Sixty-five percent of respondents say they’d support recurring $2,000 checks, an idea still advocated by Sens. Ed Markey and Bernie Sanders, who along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris proposed a bill for monthly checks back in May.
By: Benjamin Kail
Nearly two-thirds of Americans are on board with a progressive proposal — backed by some Massachusetts lawmakers — calling on the federal government to cut monthly $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new poll shows.
Data for Progress, a progressive polling and advocacy group, asked 1,166 likely voters across the country last week if they’d support or oppose the idea of a “$2,000 per month direct cash payment to every person for the duration of the pandemic.”
Sixty-five percent of respondents say they’d support recurring $2,000 checks, an idea still advocated by Sens. Ed Markey and Bernie Sanders, who along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris proposed a bill for monthly checks back in May.
Forty-one percent of respondents “strongly support” the idea, while 24% “somewhat support” it.
Thirty-two percent oppose the recurring $2,000 proposal, with just 14% “strongly” in opposition, the poll showed.
The poll comes as millions of Americans are starting to receive $600 one-time direct payments approved in the latest stimulus package. As millions remain unemployed and as the pandemic continues to stretch health systems thin, Massachusetts lawmakers and the Biden administration have committed to providing Americans more relief this year.
Despite conservative federal lawmakers’ concerns over the rising national deficit, the proposed monthly payments maintain wide, bipartisan support: 78% of Democrats back it, as do 54% of Republicans and 60% of independents. Sixty-six percent of women and 64% of men support the checks, which also find support among 58% of respondents over the age of 45 and 77% of those under 45.
The most evenly-divided responses came from college graduates polled by Data for Progress, with 50% in support and 47% opposed.
“I want recurring $2,000 survival checks in the hands of the American people,” Markey tweeted on Monday evening. “So do 65% of Americans. We can and we must get this done.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley has also consistently called for recurring payments at a time of record levels of food and housing insecurity, unemployment and immigrants’ being locked out of federal relief.
Three percent responded that they didn’t know whether they’d support or oppose the idea. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9%.
The Markey-Sanders-Harris proposal failed to pick up steam in the GOP-controlled Senate as stimulus haggling dragged on, collapsed and renewed over the last several months.
But leading Democrats, President Donald Trump and several Republicans in Congress had unsuccessfully pushed for $2,000 checks, even if only one-time payments, in the recently-approved bipartisan $908 billion relief package.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a vote on a measure that increased the approved $600 payments to $2,000; the increase had passed in the House with bipartisan support.
The latest coronavirus aid bill delivers $600 stimulus checks to tens of millions of Americans earning less than $75,000, as well as $600 for each child dependent. For more on when checks will arrive and who’s eligible, read here.
The IRS reopened its Get My Payment tool on Monday to let Americans track the arrival of checks.
After the Biden administration takes office later this month, Democrats and Republicans have pledged to continue work on future packages.
Rep. Richard Neal said last month that Congress must pass “additional, substantial relief and stimulus legislation in 2021″ to create jobs, support families and ensure state and local governments have enough resources to provide essential services and distribute vaccines.
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