TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The first stimulus package to help Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic went into effect nearly 9 months ago. Since then, many Americans have been calling for a second package as benefits from the first are dwindling.
Optimism is growing around the likelihood of a second stimulus package for Americans. republicans originally proposed a “skinny bill” around $500 billion, while democrats wanted something more in the $2 trillion range.
Indiana State University economics professor Dr. Robert Guell spoke to News 10 about where we are with a potential second stimulus package.
Guell says there is a bipartisan group of senators that have a stimulus package proposal that is around $900 billion, and he believes this is most likely to be passed.
Guell says he’s confident that a second stimulus package will be passed, but he’s unsure if it would include stimulus checks for Americans. The package will most likely include extended and enhanced assistance for unemployed americans due to the pandemic along with money for the purchasing and distributing of vaccines.
Overall, Guell says he believes a second stimulus package will come for Americans before the Biden administration takes over.
“It is simply not possible to stick your feet in the ground and say, ‘we are not doing it any way if we don’t do it my way’,” Guell said, “So I think that something along the lines of around a trillion, along the lines of what the bipartisan group of senators laid out is about what’s going to happen.”
After this presumably happens, Guell says it all depends on who controls the senate as far as what happens after that goes. That of course comes down to the Georgia run-offs on January 5th.
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely hard on families throughout the country. That of course includes right here in the Wabash Valley. News 10 also spoke with a woman who detailed how the first COVID-19 stimulus package helped her family and why she is anxious for another to keep her family financially afloat.
Paige Collingsworth lives in Terre Haute. The COVID-19 pandemic put her and her husband both temporarily out of work. She says it’s been tough since March.
“It’s definitely taken a big chunk out of the income we do bring in,” Collingsworth said, “As of right now we are down to my husband’s paycheck. I mean, we are just barely hanging on.”
Luckily, in late March, the first stimulus package for COVID-19 relief was passed. Collingsworth says it was an incredible help for her and her family at the time.
“We were actually able to move from where we were at, get on our feet, get our own place, get what we needed, and get a second vehicle at the time,” she continued.
Now, Collingsworth says it’s been tough simply waiting for another stimulus package to come through. Her husband and her are doing the best they can. As optimism grows for a potential second COVID-19 relief package, she explained what it would mean to her and her family to get that financial help.
“It would help us get everything caught up bills-wise,” Collingsworth concluded, “We could get my vehicle up and running again to where me and my son wouldn’t have to walk everywhere when my husband’s at work. It would help us bring more food into the house than what we are able to bring in.”
