Hundreds of thousands of Americans have signed a petition calling for $2,000 monthly stimulus checks in the wake of the Delta variant

protest stimulus — Protesters rally to demand economic relief during the coronavirus pandemic in New York City on August 5, 2020.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

A petition on Change.org calling for recurring $2,000 stimulus checks is almost up to 3 million signatures.
The petition has been gaining traction especially since May, as the Delta variant spread through the country.
There have been three stimulus checks released, and it's unclear whether there will be a fourth.
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Nearly 3 million people have signed a petition calling for Congress to issue $2,000 monthly stimulus checks.

The petition has been gaining significant traction since creator Stephanie Bonin posted it to Change.org last year. It's been making waves again as the Delta variant spreads across the country. Since May, hundreds of thousands of Americans have signed on.

"I'm calling on Congress to support families with a $2,000 payment for adults and a $1,000 payment for kids immediately, and continuing regular checks for the duration of the crisis," Bonin, a Colorado restaurant owner, wrote on the page for the petition. "Otherwise, laid-off workers, furloughed workers, the self-employed, and workers dealing with reduced hours will struggle to pay their rent or put food on the table."

In the petition, Bonin urged Congress to issue "immediate checks and recurring payments."

"Congress needs to make sure that we won't be left financially ruined for doing our part to keep the country healthy," she wrote.

So far, there have been three rounds of stimulus checks.

Eligible Americans received $1,400 stimulus checks in March of last year. The Trump administration issued two stimulus checks nine months apart: The checks in the first round were $1,200, and those in the second were $600.

It's unclear whether there will be a fourth round. The White House in May threw the ball in Congress' court, saying it's up to lawmakers to determine whether a fourth stimulus would be issued.

"We'll see what members of Congress propose," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, noting that the stimulus package is generally costly to the federal government.

But as Insider's Joseph-Zeballos-Roig points out, a fourth stimulus check is unlikely. That's because the economy is regaining jobs, he reported in an analysis published in early July.

The petition, however, illustrates that there is wide support for not just a single round, but for recurring stimulus checks. Bonin's petition garnered so much support that Change.org recognized it in its list of 10 petitions that changed 2020.

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