Federal Stimulus Package: How Much Illinois Residents Can Expect

ILLINOIS — Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a $2 trillion stimulus package. The bill now goes to the House, which is expected to vote Friday, before heading to President Donald Trump's desk. Trump has promised to immediately sign it.

Lawmakers are desperate to get cash in the hands of Americans and prop up devastated businesses to offset the economic choke hold caused by the pandemic.

Calculate How Much Money You'll Get From Stimulus Deal

The package would give one-time payments of $1,200 to single adults who make up to $75,000 per year and $2,400 payments to married couples who make up to $150,000 combined, plus $500 payments per child.

Payments will be gradually less for workers who make more than $75,000 individually or $150,000 jointly, and stop altogether at $99,000 ($198,000 for joint filers).

The bill also includes loan forgiveness for companies that continue to pay their employees during the pandemic. You can read the 880-page coronavirus stimulus package here.

IL Coronavirus: More Emergency Help For Small Businesses

Illinois' Democratic U.S. senators weighed in on the bill on Thursday. In a joint statement, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said the $2 trillion stimulus package "puts our hospitals and health care professionals first."

Read: Illinois Coronavirus Update March 27: U.S. Surpasses China

How the coronavirus stimulus package will affect Illinois

When can Americans expect to see the money?

Illinois residents should expect to receive their checks within three weeks. The White House has made it clear it wants the money to go out as soon as possible. Officials are eyeing April 6, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said many people would have their money within three weeks of Trump signing the bill into law.

How are payments being dispersed?

The Internal Revenue Service will use your 2019 tax return to get your direct deposit information. If that information is unavailable, it will be use your 2018 tax return. The money will then be direct-deposited or mailed.

Unemployment benefits for Illinois residents

The federal stimulus package includes an additional $600 on top of what you would normally receive from the state for unemployment benefits for four months, helping to provide full wage replacement for many workers, according to Durbin and Duckworth's joint statement. More than 100,000 unemployment insurance claims were filed in Illinois last week.

How To File For Unemployment Amid Illinois Coronavirus Shutdown

After Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a stay-at-home order across Illinois, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) enacted emergency rules for unemployment filing that may allow more residents to collect unemployment if they lost their jobs due to the new coronavirus.

Under Illinois' emergency rules, those who file for unemployment due to the coronavirus "would be considered to be actively seeking work as long as the individual was prepared to return to his or her job as soon the employer reopened" and would not have to register with the IDES employment service.

Residents who need to stay at home with their children because of coronavirus-related school closures may also be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Student loans

According to Duckworth and Durbin, the stimulus package bill suspends student loan monthly payments for 6 months.

Illinois hospitals

The stimulus package provides $100 billion in direct, emergency funding to meet the immediate needs of front-line hospitals and health providers who have been strained by the coronavirus response. Illinois is projected to be eligible for billions of dollars of emergency funding for health providers and facilities. The grant funding is available for non-reimbursable COVID-19 expenditures like surge staffing, equipment acquisition and construction, as well as lost revenues (such as cancelled procedures), including both future costs and costs already incurred. The bill also provides for advanced and increased Medicare payments to hospitals and expands telehealth services.

Help for Illinois renters and homeowners

The relief bill establishes a 120-day eviction moratorium for renters in federally-assisted housing. It also prohibits foreclosures on all federally-backed mortgage loans for 60-days and provides up to 360 days of forbearance for borrowers of a federally-backed mortgage loan.

Disease prevention

The package includes $4.3 billion for Centers for Disease Control prevention and response activities, including coronavirus test kit supplies, and $1.5 billion for state and local health departments — providing an estimated $16 million for the Illinois Department of Public Health and an additional $9 million for the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Stabilization funds for Illinois

The package provides $150 billion total in direct federal grant funding to states, local governments and tribes to help fund COVID-19 response and free up state and local funding for essential services and payroll. Illinois will receive an estimated $5 billion in direct federal funding under the program.

Public transportation in Illinois

The bill includes $25 billion in federal transit formula funding to keep public transit operating throughout Illinois in order to ensure continued access to jobs, medical treatment, food, and other essential services. Illinois transit agencies will receive an estimated $1.6 billion in federal transit funding including $800 million for the CTA, over $400 million for Metra, and over $100 million for Pace.

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