President Joe Biden signed a new COVID-19 relief package on March 11. The relief package includes relief checks, rental assistance, SNAP assistance and more. Tenants who have questions about stimulus checks or need help with unemployment can call SHA's JobLink helpline at 206.615.3549 for assistance.
Here is a selected list of some of the benefits in the bill:
Direct payments
Provides $1,400 direct payments to individuals making up to $75,000 per year; $2,800 for couples making up to $150,000 per year and $1,400 additional payments per dependent child. Individuals making between $75,000 and $80,000 and married couples making between $150,000 and $160,000 will receive a reduced amount. Individuals making more than $80,00 and married couples making more than $160,000 will not receive a stimulus check.
Unemployment insurance
Revives supplemental federal pandemic unemployment benefits at $300 per week through Sept. 6, 2021. That’s on top of payments from state unemployment insurance programs.
Rental assistance
Provides funding to help eligible low-income households pay their rent and to assist the homeless.
Food aid
Increases the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit by 15 percent through September.
COVID-19 vaccines and testing
Provides funding to expand testing for COVID-19 and to enhance contract tracing capabilities with new investments to expand laboratory capacity and set up mobile testing units. It also contains money to speed up the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.
Child-tax credit
Under current law, most taxpayers with dependents can reduce their federal income tax bill by up to $2,000 per child. The new relief bill would increase the tax break to $3,000 for every child age 6 to 17 and $3,600 for every child under the age of 6.