Congress wants to send Americans money. Turns out it's complicated.

By Eli Okun 10 hrs ago

Biden to begin vetting VP shortlist ‘in matter of weeks’

Mansion built to withstand nuclear war is on the market for $30M How do you send money en masse to people in the midst of a pandemic? © Zach Gibson/Getty Images In the Republicans’ current bill text, the IRS would take the lead, tapping a master file of this year’s and last year’s tax filers’ personal and bank information.

In a world roughly remade by virus every few days, the federal government’s desperate attempt to shore up a plummeting economy changes shape by the hour. But one partial solution has surged to the fore: sending money directly to Americans.

Bing COVID-19 tracker: Latest numbers by country and state

There’s precedent for the idea: The U.S. sent money out to most households during the 2001 and 2008 recessions. But as the government tries to move at warp speed this time around, plenty of question marks remain about the tradeoffs between rapidity and accuracy. Every day it takes to pass the bill matters. And no one really knows what new wrinkles the coronavirus might add.

A Treasury Department spokesman declined to comment for this article, and negotiations are still in flux. But here’s how former officials and experts expect the process to work — and how you might end up with thousands more dollars in your bank account within weeks.

In the Republicans’ current bill text, the IRS would take the lead, tapping a master file of this year’s and last year’s tax filers’ personal and bank information. Unlike in 2008, most people now get their refunds via electronic direct deposit, so sending them money is simple. Once the IRS sends its file to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the payments can move fast, said Dick Gregg, a former fiscal assistant Treasury secretary and head of what’s now the Fiscal Service.

But there are a few wrinkles to iron out.

“All of this is nifty,” said former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, “but you don’t get the people who don’t file.”

Coordinating across agencies, the government can also access information for people who haven’t filed taxes but already receive payments in the form of Social Security or Veterans Affairs benefits.

A trickier task is reaching the portion of Americans who neither make enough money to file taxes nor receive those other benefits — “the new working class,” as Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, put it. A single dishwasher without kids, a home health aide: Not only are these people among the most vulnerable to the current economic shock, they’re also easier to miss.

Electronic benefits transfer cards for people who receive food stamps and other cash assistance are one way to find them. That could require coordination with state governments to deliver the payments, said Jack Smalligan, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute who spent nearly three decades at the Office of Management and Budget.

But too much delay in figuring out who should get a check could hold up the entire process.

“Speed is of the essence at this time,” argued Michael Graetz, a law professor at Columbia and Treasury official in the George H.W. Bush administration. “And then if there are gaps or people didn’t get it, there should be a number to call that allows you to say that you didn’t get it.”

Starting payments by April 6, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin originally proposed, would be much faster than in 2008, when the IRS took two months to send out the first checks. That’s assuming, of course, that the president signs the bill this week.

Click for Full Text!