Online Petition for $2,000 Monthly Payment Gets Over 2.5 Million Signatures

An online petition for monthly stimulus payments recently hit another milestone when it broke the 2.5 million signature mark, making it closer to becoming one of the most signed online petitions.

The petition asks the government to provide monthly checks amounting to $2,000 to adults and $1,000 to children till the end of the pandemic. Over the past year, the petition steadily gathered supporters, but the number of signatories has seen a sudden uptick off late. In a little over a week, this stimulus payment petition received 100,000 signatures, taking the total from 2.4 million to 2.5 million signatures. If the present rate continues, the petition could receive 3 million signatures in just about seven weeks. 

The petition was created by Stephanie Bonin last year after she was forced to shut down her restaurant in Denver to slow the spread of COVID-19. She says the event was a “blur” and that losing her source of income in order to keep those around her safe made for a “catastrophic” time.

About the petition, Bonin said, “People like me who have never had to go onto an assistance program are living an experience we’ve never lived and I think it’s a unifying thing. When people unify we can move mountains.” She believes that people would have had an easier time weathering the impact of the pandemic if they knew they would receive consistent payments. 

While the petition has received millions of signatures, the White House has not publicly backed a monthly payment yet. When asked if there would be additional direct payments, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden is open to considering a plan from Congress but noted that it is not a priority for the administration.