Fourth Stimulus Check Petition Nears 3M Signatures, Calls For Child Tax Credit Extension

A petition calling Congress to send monthly recurring checks is close to reaching its goal of three million signatures.

The Change.org petition posted last year by Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin earned 2,885,625 signatures as of Thursday night, putting it less than 115,000 signatures away from achieving its goal of 3 million and becoming one of the top signed petitions on the platform.

In the petition, which was named one of the top ten petitions that changed 2020, Bonin urged U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation that sends out monthly stimulus payments worth $2,000 to adults and $1,000 to children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help struggling Americans pay for basic necessities.

“I’m calling on Congress to support families with a $2,000 payment for adults and a $1,000 payment for kids immediately, and continuing regular checks for the duration of the crisis. Otherwise, laid-off workers, furloughed workers, the self-employed, and workers dealing with reduced hours will struggle to pay their rent or put food on the table,” the petition read.

“For our team and other Americans who can claim unemployment, even the maximum payments will not be enough for most people to continue paying their bills – and avoid slipping into poverty. But supplying Americans with monthly support until they can get back on their feet can save our communities from financial ruin.”

Despite the growing calls for another round of stimulus checks, Congress has yet to indicate plans to send out a fourth round of relief payments.

On Wednesday, Bonin also posted an update urging Americans to sign a separate petition on the Economic Security Project Action, calling President Joe Biden and lawmakers to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit beyond December and make it permanent.

A study by Gregory Acs, vice president for income and benefits policy at the Urban Institute, and Kevin Werner, a research analyst in the income and benefits policy center at the Washington, D.C, found that continuing the new child tax credit checks beyond December could effectively reduce child poverty to 8.4% from 14.2%.

Since July, the Biden administration has sent out child tax credit checks worth up to $3,600 to millions of eligible American families. However, it is yet unclear whether Democratic lawmakers plan to extend the program.