DES MOINES, Iowa — 1.5 million. That's how many stimulus check payments were sent out to Iowans through the CARES Act since April.
That totals $2.725 billion.
According to the Iowa Legislative Services Agency, the average payment on a stimulus check for Iowans was $1,781.
The $2.725 billion Iowa amount equals:
• 1.0% of the U.S. total Economic Impact Payments
• 24.2% of the amount Iowa residents owed in federal income tax for tax year 2017 (excluding the adjustment for any refundable tax credits).
• 1.6% of total calendar year 2019 Iowa personal income
Nationally, 158.7 million payments totaling $266.082 billion have been issued for an average payment of $1,677. Lawmakers are getting closer to sending more payments to American families who have been impacted by the pandemic. Democrats already sent a bill to the Senate that would expand the eligibility requirements for the stimulus checks, but some Republicans have not warmed to the idea. There are still details to be worked out, if a deal is reached: who is eligible, when the payments will go out, and how much will the check be.
Some Americans are still waiting on their first payments. People who haven't filed their taxes have until October 15 to register for their payments.
Dozens of economists have been calling for recurring payments to Americans to keep the economy going. As you can read in the above open letter by the Economic Security Project and the Justice Collaborative earlier this week, 156 top economists called for lawmakers to write legislation for ongoing stimulus checks. We spoke with ISU economist Dave Swenson about why a second round of payments would help bolster the economy.
