U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announces that households in Queens will receive checks within the next two weeks (Photo: U.S. Senator Charles Schumer Twitter @SenSchumer)
March 9, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced Monday that more than 1 million households in Queens will receive economic stimulus checks within the next two weeks.
The Senate majority leader said that the checks will be sent out as part of the latest COVID-19 relief bill. The massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was passed by the Senate over the weekend and is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives this week.
The checks will then be processed and sent out once President Joe Biden signs the bill into law. Biden is anticipated to sign the bill no later than Sunday.
Individuals earning up to $75,000 per year can expect a $1,400 check, while couples with a combined income of up to $150,000 will get $2,800, Schumer said in a statement yesterday.
Checks will be phased-out for any individual earning more than $75,000 per year and less than $80,000 annually. Similarly, phased-out checks will be sent to couples earning more than $150,000 and less than $160,000 combined.
Individuals earning $80,000 or more, or couples with a combined income of $160,000 or more, will not receive any checks.
Eligible families will also receive an additional $1,400 payment for each child and dependent adult, Schumer said.
Schumer said that more than $2.565 billion worth of direct payments will be sent to 1.027 million households in Queens.
Out of the five boroughs, only Brooklyn will receive a greater amount of direct stimulus money. The county will see 1.172 million households get checks, totaling about $2.925 billion.
Approximately 756,000 households in Manhattan will receive checks worth $1.889 billion, followed by Bronx County that will get $1.611 billion worth of checks that will go to around 645,00 households. Meanwhile, in Staten Island, around 220,000 households are set to receive a total of $551 million in checks.
Schumer said the payments will be critical for low and moderate-income households that have been hit hard by a “once-in-a-generation crisis.”
“This much-needed and new round of economic stimulus payments will come just in time to help cover the costs of essential expenses like food, rent, the mortgage, even medical bills,” Schumer said.
“As soon as the president can sign the American Rescue Plan into law, the work will begin to get the checks out.”
The bill, if passed, will also extend weekly unemployment benefits of $300 through Sep. 6 while child tax credits will jump from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child. The tax credit will be even higher for each child under the age of six at $3,600.
