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New coronavirus stimulus checks, including payments for dependent college students, proposed in next relief package, Rep. Richard Neal says

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A second round of coronavirus stimulus checks, including payments for dependent college students, may be in store for millions of Americans in the fourth COVID-19 pandemic relief package in the works on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, in an editorial board meeting with The Republican and MassLive Thursday, said lawmakers had proposed direct payments similar to the ones that have already rolled out to millions of Americans this spring as part of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The record-breaking relief bill, signed by President Donald Trump in late March, came in the wake of a pandemic that’s shuttered schools, businesses and public institutions throughout the country and brought the economy to a halt. Nearly 75,000 Americans have died and more than 1.2 million have contracted COVID-19.

Neal said the new package could again include checks of up to $1,200 for individual Americans earning up to $75,000, and $2,400 for married couples filing jointly and earning up to $150,000.

Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a “more robust dependent child benefit” than the CARES Act, which included $500 payments for every child younger than 17, Neal said.

“We hope we can expand that to dependent children who are in college,” he said.

Expanding the earned income tax credit, boosting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, more funding for hospitals and state and local governments, are also on the table for the package, Neal said.

“I hope we can find some accommodation with Republicans,” said Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

He added that despite “charged rhetoric” and tough negotiations with Republicans, both in the House and Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump administration, Democrats have “actually done pretty well in securing our priorities" in three COVID-19 relief packages thus far.

“We’re looking for relief for those in the middle and lower income brackets," he said, helping Americans keep paychecks coming in and “food still on the table” amid the crisis.

Neal on Wednesday said more details on the package will be public within a few days.

For more details on who was eligible for CARES Act stimulus checks, which is likely the framework for the next package, read here.

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