House Democrats unveiled their plans today for the third round of economic stimulus, releasing the full bill text.
The $1.9 trillion package proposes a $15 federal minimum wage, $1,400 checks for Americans making $75,000 or under per year, extended $400 federal unemployment benefits, and money for struggling small businesses.
Until Biden’s stimulus plan is passed, unemployed workers will continue receiving $300 each week until March 14 as laid out in a $900 billion relief package passed back in December. These are benefits first established under the CARES Act, which was initially signed last March in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thursday’s report from the Department of Labor showed that 847,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, which is a drop of 67,000 from the previous week.
We’re here to answer as many questions as we can, given the current information available, including whether the weekly unemployment bonus includes retroactive payments, and who meets the eligibility requirements.
How long will the $300 extra unemployment payments last?
The December stimulus package adds 11 weeks of unemployment with an expiration date of March 14. There’s an overflow period that lasts until April 5 for those who exhausted their state’s benefits before the expiration date.
