Third Stimulus Check: Here's How Families Can Receive More Than $1,400

Qualifying families in the United States may receive more than the $1,400 stimulus money after Democrats on Monday unveiled a new bill.

Three House Democrats, including Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., reintroduced the American Family Act (AFA), which would provide a boost to the federal aid families receive under the Child Tax Credit.

Under the proposed legislation, families would receive $300 per month for every child under 6 and $250 per month for every child between 6 to 17.

“For families, monthly payments make a big difference because they have money when they need it,” DelBene said in an interview with CNBC last week. “I believe that we should fully expand the credit to help families over the long term. This is good short-term policy, but it’s also very good long-term policy.”

The American Family Act would also make the Child Tax Credit and Young Child Tax Credit fully refundable, which means all low-income families could receive the benefits. This would extend the $250 monthly payments to the 27 million children left out of the current CTC bill.

Currently, taxpayers are required to earn $2,500 of income and at a rate of 15 cents for every dollar of additional income before they are eligible to receive payments under the Child Tax Credit.

“Though it is the largest federal investment in children that we make, it still leaves behind one-third of all children who are in families who earn too little to get the full credit,” DelBene said.

In early February, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-UT, unveiled his own plan for improving the existing child tax credit. The Family Security Act would give households $350 per month per child under age 6 and $250 per month per child ages 6 to 17.

"If enacted, low-income families would no longer have to choose between a bigger paycheck or eligibility for support. This plan would immediately lift nearly three million children out of poverty, while providing a bridge to the middle class – without adding a dime to the federal deficit,” Romney wrote in the summary of the proposal.

The American Family Act and the Family Security Act may be added to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill. Experts say the legislation is likely to be passed around mid-March, just before the current $300 weekly jobless benefits expire on March 14 (or March 13 if weeks of unemployment end on Saturday).

Once the relief bill is passed and signed by the president, the IRS will begin distributing the stimulus payments to eligible individuals and households.