The petition for more payments is getting closer to the goal

(WJW) – A Change.org petition urging Congress to send out $ 2,000 in monthly stimulus checks is approaching its goal of $ 3 million.

Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin started the online petition over a year ago and by Wednesday morning it had 2.6 million signatures and was growing.

Bonin, who owns the restaurant with her husband, calls for targeted stimulus funds.

“Our country is still deeply in difficulty. The recovery has not reached many Americans – the true unemployment rate for low-wage workers is estimated at over 20% and many people face large debts last year for things like services public, rent and child care. These are all reasons why checks need to be targeted at the people who are still struggling and Congress needs to learn from the past year, ”she wrote in the latest update.

“It took Congress nine months to send out a second stimulus check, and a few moments to spend it. Going forward, Congress must automate recurring checks if certain triggers are met. No more waiting for our government to send the help we need. Sign up to join our movement to get recurring checks for people, ”she wrote.

Bonin’s petition is one of many on Change.org calling for monthly stimulus payments – and the most important, according to Newsweek.

“The most common reason [people sign] is that feeling uncertain, ”Bonin told Newsweek. “We are still in uncertain times. And it’s times like this that it feels like people return to a life of fear.

In the meantime, many American families started receiving child tax credit payments last week, either directly to their bank account or by mail.

The payments differ from stimulus checks in that they are not entirely new funds, but rather an advance payment on the child tax credit that parents were already deducting from their taxes at the time of filing. The total credit value has been increased for 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s US bailout. This year, parents receive half of the funds in advance and the rest when the deposit is made next spring. This means that monthly check payments will expire in early 2022.