Press Releases
Washington – Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.),Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and 44 of their colleagues to call on the Trump administration to issue stimulus checks automatically to recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Supplemental Security Income program. In their letter, the senators point out that these are two groups with large amounts of non-filers and groups that the federal government has the data necessary to deliver the stimulus checks automatically.
“Today, we write requesting that you again use your authority to provide stimulus payments automatically to recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Supplemental Security Income program, without requiring them to file a tax return. This is the fastest, most-effective way to provide desperately needed help to more than 3 million low-income veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities,” the senators wrote.
Along with Feinstein, Brown, Hassan, Bennet and Booker, the letter was signed by Senators Baldwin (D-Wis.), Blumenthal (D-Conn,), Cantwell (D-Wash.), Cardin (D-Md.), Carper (D-Del.), Casey (D-Pa.), Coons (D-Del.), Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Duckworth (D-Ill.), Durbin (D-Ill.), Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Harris (D-Calif.), Heinrich (D-N.M.), Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jones (D-Ala.), Kaine (D-Va.), King (D-Maine), Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Leahy (D-Vt.), Manchin (D-W. Va.), Markey (D-Mass.), Menendez (D-N.J.), Murphy (D-Conn.), Murray (D-Wash.), Peters (D-Mich.), Reed (D-R.I.), Rosen (D-Nev.), Sanders (I-Vt.), Schatz (D-Hawaii), Schumer (D-N.Y.), Shaheen (D-N.H.), Sinema (D-Ariz.), Smith (D-Minn.), Stabenow (D-Mich.), Udall (D-N.M.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), Warner (D-Va.), Warren (D-Mass.), Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Wyden (D-Ore.).
The letter is available here and below.
Dear Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Wilkie, and Commissioner Saul:
We appreciate the swift attention you gave to our April 1st letter urging the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) to automatically send rebates to Social Security retirement and disability beneficiaries that have not filed a tax return. Your decision will make receiving the rebate easier and faster for millions of seniors and people with disabilities across the country. Thank you.
Today, we write requesting that you again use your authority to provide stimulus payments automatically to recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Supplemental Security Income program, without requiring them to file a tax return. This is the fastest, most-effective way to provide desperately needed help to more than 3 million low-income veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Treasury wisely decided to use its authority to take this step with regard to recipients of Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits. Treasury can also make automatic payments to low-income veterans receiving VA benefits and very low-income seniors and people with disabilities receiving SSI. These are two groups with significant numbers of non-filers for whom the federal government has the data necessary to deliver the payments automatically — and they deserve the same treatment as Social Security recipients.
The process for getting SSI and VA beneficiaries payments would mirror the process that it is using for seniors and people with disabilities receiving Social Security: Treasury can match its data against the Social Security Administration’s and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ data to determine those SSI and veterans beneficiaries who aren’t part of a tax filing unit and then issue them automatic payments for the amounts which Congress intended them to receive. Treasury should not require people with disabilities and low-income veterans and seniors to file a form to receive stimulus payments when the federal government already has the information it needs.
The law also requires Treasury to conduct a public awareness campaign in coordination with other federal agencies to ensure those who don’t typically file a tax return receive these stimulus rebates. Please share information with us about your plans to design and implement this awareness campaign in a timely manner.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Margaret Wood Hassan
Senator Michael F. Bennet
Senator Cory A. Booker
Senator Tammy Baldwin
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Senator Maria Cantwe
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin
Senator Thomas R. Carper
Senator Robert P. Casey Jr.
Senator Christopher A. Coons
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Senator Richard J. Durbin
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
Senator Kamala D. Harris
Senator Martin Heinrich
Senator Mazie K. Hirono
Senator Doug Jones
Senator Tim Kaine
Senator Angus S. King, Jr.
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Joe Manchin III
Senator Edward J. Markey
Senator Robert Menendez
Senator Patty Murray
Senator Christopher S. Murphy
Senator Gary C. Peters
Senator Jack Reed
Senator Jacky Rosen
Senator Bernard Sanders
Senator Brian Schatz
Senator Charles E. Schumer
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Kyrsten Sinema
Senator Tina Smith
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Tom Udall
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Senator Mark R. Warner
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Ron Wyden
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