Is the second stimulus check coming?

There are good news and bad news on the prospects for additional government assistance. The proposed $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or HEROES, Act would authorize another round of stimulus payments for most U.S. households. While the bill was passed by the Democrat-controlled House last month, it still must get through the Republican-controlled Senate.

Yet there are signs the White House may get behind additional stimulus funding, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the administration is working on its own plan. During a press conference last week to discuss unemployment, President Donald Trump said his administration will be “asking for additional stimulus money,”

To be sure, it’s unclear whether the HEROES Act will pass Senate scrutiny, or what its final contents might be. But here’s what Americans could be looking at if the bill passes.

Could immigrants get a second stimulus payment?

CARES also drew fire for its exclusion of many immigrants, including those who are in the U.S. legally. Only immigrants with Green Cards were allowed to receive stimulus money, which excludes millions of immigrants who pay taxes but haven’t qualified for a Green Card. The law also excluded Americans who are married to immigrants without Green Cards, an exclusion that sparked lawsuits alleging discrimination against them as well as their American children denied payments.

HEROES would require only that a taxpayer have a “taxpayer identification number” — a number used by immigrants to pay taxes — rather than a Social Security number, as CARES required.