Rep. Stevens Urges Swift Delivery of Stimulus Checks to Americans

WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11) sent the below letter to newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese, urging the IRS to reopen the non-filer portal for Americans who did not file tax returns in 2019 but are still eligible for stimulus checks. She asked that the IRScreate more effective online mechanisms to check the status of checks to ensure greater transparency in the distribution process and increase the amount of communication between the IRS and Congressional offices, as Congressional caseworkers continue to work diligently to help constituents access their economic impact payments. 

“I am grateful to President Biden for his swift order to improve the Treasury Department’s delivery system for economic impact payments and his commitment to making sure that all eligible American’s get these desperately needed payments as quickly as possible,” said Rep. Stevens. “Millions of Americans  are struggling and in need of their economic impact payments to make rent and keep the lights turned on as our nation nears a full year of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. For a variety of reasons, many are unable to access these funds, or face significant delays and barriers to access. I urge Secretary Yellen and Mr. Deese to address these challenges and ensure that all Americans are able to access payments as quickly and effectively as possible.”

Read the Congresswoman’s letter below. 

The Honorable Janet Yellen                                                       The Honorable Brian Deese

U.S Department of the Treasury                                                 National Economic Council

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW                                                 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington DC 20220                                                                Washington, D.C. 20500   

Dear Secretary Yellen and Mr. Deese:

Congratulations on your confirmation as Secretary of the Treasury and appointment as Director of the National Economic Council. As a Treasury Department alumnus, I look forward to working with you and your team on measures to rebuild and reopen our economy, which includes ensuring those who qualify for the Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) receive the funds in a timely manner. I was pleased to see that President Biden moved quickly on executive action to reevaluate the Department’s delivery structure for stimulus checks to ensure access for the eight million Americans who are entitled to the payments but have not received their checks yet.

I am writing to share the continued concerns of my constituents regarding the expediency and effectiveness of the stimulus check process and urge your department to take swift action to remedy these. I implore the IRS to create more effective online mechanisms on the status of checks to ensure greater transparency in the distribution process. While the IRS has set up an online portal to address individual constituent inquiries, the portal could not provide any information regarding unissued payments, including scheduled payment dates. The “Get My Payment” online portal continues to provide inadequate information, particularly in this time of great financial uncertainty for many. While I acknowledge the difficulties stemming from limited resources, we are now on the second round of checks and months into this program.

Additionally, I encourage the IRS to reopen the non-filer portal for Americans who did not file tax returns in 2019 but are still eligible for stimulus checks. I encourage expediting the accessibility to ensure that those who either did not claim a first EIP or received the first round but not the second EIP receive the payments in a timely manner. Though I understand that the IRS has set up a process for Americans to receive EIPs through filing a Recovery Rebate Credit past the statutory deadline for disbursing the checks, this system does not provide the funds in a timely manner and may not be accessible for all.  

As my Congressional casework team has been working diligently on behalf of constituents trying to access their EIP, I would like to ask that IRS increase its collaboration with congressional offices to make the congressional mailbox more responsive to individual payments which have yet to be received.  I am eager to hear your deeper insight on how the IRS will make changes to ensure that all Americans who are qualified receive their EIP payments and look forward to subsequent correspondence from you accordingly.  Thank you for your attention to this matter and your continued service to our nation.

Sincerely, 

Haley M. Stevens

Member of Congress

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