Rep. Ilhan Omar signed a letter Thursday requesting that the Biden administration distribute monthly recurring cash payments until “this deadly pandemic” is over, rather than issue another one-time economic relief check.
The letter addressed to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is signed by 55 other U.S. House Democrats and calls for recurring payments that “continue until the economy recovers.”
A one-time payment of $2,000 is not enough.
Today, I led a letter with my colleagues urging the Biden-Harris Administration to include monthly recurring survival checks in their future economic relief plans.
We must meet this moment and deliver transformative change. pic.twitter.com/qqV9YUScwr
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 28, 2021
The representatives demand that the payments go to “all immigrant workers, refugees, and their families.”
“Worsening systemic inequities, such as food insecurity and housing instability, are most severe for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, who are suffering high infection and mortality rates of COVID-19 and high unemployment levels, compared to white Americans,” the letter reads.
It also points to previous relief payments that helped boost the economy with quick spending, especially “among low-income people, who spent this infusion of disposable income primarily on food, rent, and utilities.”
Whatever the relief package may be, the progressive representatives want the cash payments to “prioritize those who need it most and will spend it the quickest,” include older dependents who are elderly or disabled, and be provided to “those over the age of 16 still claimed as dependents.”
Although the letter does not specify an exact amount for recurring relief checks, Omar tweeted her support for “$2,000 monthly payments until the pandemic is over.”
$2,000 monthly payments until the pandemic is over. https://t.co/6tuia6prFJ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 28, 2021
The letter declares that one more relief check could “provide a temporary lifeline” but is not sufficient for families who are struggling.
Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib are among those who signed the letter, endorsing recurring cash payments as a necessity for future economic relief packages.
Rose Williams
Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.
