A petition circulating online for $2,000 monthly stimulus payments is nearing its goal of 3 million signatures.
Since its creator Stephanie Bonin posted it to Change.org last year, the petition has gained a lot of traction. As the COVID-19 Delta variant expands across the country, it's causing a stir once more.
"We need immediate checks and recurring payments so that we can keep our heads above water," Bonin wrote. "Congress needs to make sure that we won't be left financially ruined for doing our part to keep the country healthy."
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have joined the movement since May.
So far, three rounds of stimulation checks have been given out.
In March 2020, eligible Americans got $1,400 in stimulus funds. The Trump administration provided two stimulus payments nine months apart: 1) the first round's checks totaled $1,200, while 2) the second round's checks were $600.
The online petition had over 2,804,670 signatures as of Sunday.
President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan in March, providing up to $1,400 in compensation and extending an unemployment insurance supplement.
Even if the petition becomes successful, not everyone believes we will see additional payouts.
In May, the White House tossed the ball back into Congress' court, stating it was up to lawmakers to decide whether a fourth stimulus package would be released, even though it is normally costly to the federal government.
And, as Insider's Joseph-Zeballos-Roig pointed out, a fourth stimulus package is quite unlikely. This is because the economy is regaining jobs, he said in an early July analysis.
Meanwhile, on FOX Business' "Varney & Co.," King's College in Manhattan Business Professor Brian Brenberg labeled the appeal for a fourth stimulus check "detached from reality."
In a letter signed in May by seven House Ways and Means Committee members, lawmakers advocated for regular stimulus checks to help keep millions out of poverty.
The petition, nevertheless, shows that there is widespread support for ongoing stimulus checks rather than simply a single round. Bonin's petition received so much support that it was included in Change.org's list of the 10 petitions that changed 2020.
