Fourth Stimulus Check Petition Just 99,000 Signatures Away From 3M Goal

A petition urging U.S. lawmakers to send $2,000 monthly stimulus checks to millions of Americans is less than 100,000 signatures away from its three million goal.

In 2020, Denver-restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin launched a petition on Change.org calling Congress to send $2,000 monthly relief payments to adults and $1,000 to children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It took nine months for Congress to send a second stimulus check, and just moments to spend it. Moving forward Congress needs to make recurring checks automatic if certain triggers are met. No more waiting around for our government to send the help we need. Sign to join our movement to get recurring checks to the people,” Bonin wrote in the petition.

As of Monday, the petition reached 2,900,799 signatures, just 99,201 signatures short of its three million goal. If the petition reaches the goal, it will become one of the platform’s most signed petitions.

Calls for the fourth round of stimulus checks have continued to grow amid the spread of COVID-19. In a letter signed by 21 Democratic senators in March, the lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to support recurring payments, noting that the government’s $1,400 checks are unlikely to support recipients for long.

"Almost 6 in 10 people say the $1,400 payments set to be included in the rescue package will last them less than three months," the senators wrote in the letter.

But despite the calls, the White House has yet to indicate any plans in passing legislation that would send out another round of checks. This has led some states to distribute their own form of relief payments.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., introduced the “Golden State Stimulus” program, which gives low- and middle-income residents who filed their 2020 tax returns a one-time payment of $600.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also announced the Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) grant program, which would give eligible farmworkers and meatpacking employees up to $600 payments for any expenses they incurred in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The USDA also announced plans to allocate $20 million for a pilot program aimed at supporting front-line grocery workers.

The Federal Reserve's stimulus policies have been credited with helping the US economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic Photo: AFP / Daniel SLIM