Second Round of Stimulus Money Coming in May?

Over the last few weeks, millions of Americans have received their stimulus payment. But is $1,200 enough to help people through this pandemic?

Many of our national leaders don't think so. Congress has been mulling over a second round of stimulus payments. President Donald Trump, however, says he wants payroll tax cuts to be a part of the relief package.

"We're not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut," Trump said. "That is so important to the success of our country."

So, exactly what are payroll tax cuts? It's pretty simple, for working Americans it's less money taken out of your paycheck.

Payroll taxes include:

• Social Security, which takes out 6.2% of your income up to $132,900
• Medicare, which takes out 1.45% of your income. (Married couples filing jointly who make $250,000 or more, and people who make over $200,000, pay an additional 0.9%.)

Employers pay payroll taxes too:

• They pay 6.2% of your income. So, the government gets 12.4% of your total income, and they pay 1.45% of your income toward Medicare as well.

The idea behind a payroll tax cut is that workers would spend more and essentially curb a recession. Business owners would also keep more money, which may help reduce future lay-offs.

On the flip side, a payroll tax cut does not help those who are unemployed. About 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the last six weeks.

One of the ideas being floated around is the Emergency Money for the People Act, introduced by Rep. Tim Ryan and Rep. Ro Khanna with another 17 Democrat sponsors. This would give Americans 16 and older a $2,000 stimulus check each month for the next six months.

Khanna is on record as saying, "a one-time, twelve hundred dollar check isn't going to cut it. Americans need sustained cash infusions for the duration of this crisis in order to come out on the other side alive, healthy, and ready to get back to work."

However, many Republican lawmakers are not keen on the idea, with Louisiana representative Steve Scalise reportedly calling it a "radical socialist" idea.

Despite opposition from Republicans, there is a growing recognition that some form of additional payments will be necessary.

It should be interesting to see how the two sides come up with a plan together to further help the American people.