Fourth Stimulus Check Update: Dems Propose $100 Monthly Direct Payments For Gas

KEY POINTS

The gas payments would be available to single filers earning less than $75,000 annually
Joint filers making less than $150,000 would also be eligible for the payments
It is unclear whether the bill would be passed by Congress

Some Americans may receive stimulus checks amounting to as much as $100 per month to help cover the rising cost of fuel.

A new bill, called the Gas Rebate Act, was proposed by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., John Larson, D-Conn., and Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. Under the bill, both individual and joint tax filers would receive a monthly energy rebate of $100 per person.

The bill would also provide $100 per dependent. This means a family with two children may receive up to $300 in monthly rebate checks.

The gas payments would be available to single people earning less than $75,000 annually and Joint filers who earn less than $150,000 could also qualify for the full payment. The checks would phase out for single filers earning $80,000 a year and joint filers with over $160,000 in household income.

The payments would be sent out for the rest of 2022 in months where the national average gas prices exceed $4.00 per gallon. As of Tuesday, the average price per gallon for regular gas was $4.242, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

“Americans are feeling the impact at the pump of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and right now we must work together on commonsense policy solutions to ease the financial burden that my constituents are feeling,” Rep. Thompson said in a statement.

“The Putin Price Hike is putting strain on our economy, and I am proud to be working with Reps. Larson and Underwood to introduce this legislation to provide middle-class Americans with monthly payments to ease the financial burden of this global crises.”

The Gas Rebate Act did not include information on how the monthly payments would be funded. It is also unclear whether Congress would pass the bill. The proposal comes more than a month after the U.S. saw record-high gas prices.

The bill also comes less than a week after Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Calif., proposed to send every taxpayer in California $400 payments to help cover the rising cost of fuel, goods and services. As per the proposal, the payments would be funded by a portion of the state’s budget surplus.