How much could your second stimulus check be worth if the HEROES Act passes?
THREE months after President Trump signed the CARES act to provide million of Americans with coronavirus stimulus checks, there are hopes a second payment could soon follow.
The proposed $3trillion relief package under the HEROES act - which is not yet law - could see families sent another $6,000 each. Here's how it works.
What is the HEROES act?
Democrats put forward the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act as a follow-up to the first round of stimulus checks.
March's CARES act - which stood for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act - provided for $1,200 checks to be sent to every adult whose income was under the threshold.
Children under 17 were eligible for $500 each.
The new HEROES act proposes another one-time check of the same amount for adults, subject to the same income limits.
But this time the amount for children matches that for their parents, and high school seniors and college students over 17 are now included.
So adults earning up to $75,000 ($150,000 for a couple) and up to three dependent children would get a further check for $1,200 each, capped at $6,000 per household.
The payments taper to zero for anyone earning above the income limits.
Immigrants are also included for the first time.
Unlike CARES, which required a social security number, to be eligible under HEROES you only need a taxpayer identification number — which is used by immigrants to pay taxes.
You can find out how much you could be in line to receive with .
What else in the HEROES act?
As well as the one-time payments, HEROES also proposes hazard pay for frontline workers, allowing employers to apply for a $13-an-hour premium on top of their normal pay.
The extra payment can be up to up to $10,000 per worker, or $5,000 for those who make over $200,000 a year.
There are also plans to boost unemployment insurance to $600 a week until until January 2021, to help the 20million who have lost their jobs in the pandemic.
HEROES also proposes up to $10,000 debt relief on student loans, and help for low-income renters and homeowners.
The bill out forward by the Democrats also touches on other areas besides relief, including fake news online.
It mentions "potential strategies to mitigate the dissemination and negative impacts of COVID–19 disinformation, including specifically, the dissemination of disinformation on social media, including through improved disclosures".
When will we get the money?
That remains unknown as it is still not clear if the bill will become law.
HEROES passed in the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives, but has yet to pass the Republican-led Senate.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell insisted last week .
Even if it did pass Congress, it could be vetoed by President Trump who has already described it as "dead in the water".
However, the White House has been sending signals that it might support a further stimulus package to help kickstart the economy after the US officially fell into recession.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is working on its own plan.
Economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the odds of another stimulus package "are very, very high."
And Mr Trump said last week in a press conference on unemployment that he will be "asking for additional stimulus money."
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration is "very seriously considering" a second round of stimulus checks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Meanwhile leading Democrats are pushing for longer term help on top of the one-tie checks.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris of California and Ed Markey have introduced a bill to provide $2,000 per month for every US resident until the coronavirus crisis subsides.
Sanders said on Twitter: "Bills are piling up, rent is due, millions are jobless. A one-time $1,200 check won’t cut it.
"We need to provide $2,000 a month to every man, woman and child—and make it retroactive to cover the past three months.
"If we can bail out corporations, we can ensure everyone’s needs."
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