With the gridlock of the second round of a federal stimulus package by the U.S. Congress, President Donald Trump recently took executive action to help the country continue financially through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March and some of those items have expired, including the one time payment of $1,200 stimulus checks and weekly unemployment payments of $600. Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District Representative Steve King says he doesn’t completely support either the House’s $3 trillion stimulus package or the Senate’s $1 trillion proposal. 

He says the main issue he had was extending the unemployment payments. The House wanted to continue at the $600 level, while the Senate proposed $200 payments. King would rather eliminate all unemployment payments.

“Now imagine if your unemployment check produces perhaps two-thirds of what your normal payroll is, and then you get an extra $600 per week, and your employer says, ‘I want you to come back.’ According to the regulations, you have to have a real reason to not come back to work. But the standards are so mushy that most anyone can come up with an excuse, not a reason, but an excuse not to go back to work.”

King instead would rather push for a better incentive for both the employer and employee.

“A payroll tax suspension, which would be good for the employer and employee. It would increase their take home (pay) and it would help the employer to be able to keep people on.”

President Trump’s recent executive order includes a memorandum of payroll tax exemption for individuals who make less than $100,000 per year. Congress continues to negotiate a finalized second stimulus package.