A petition urging the government to give $2,000 monthly stimulus checks to every American has surpassed 2 million signatures

• A petition calling for $2,000 monthly stimulus checks has reached more than 2 million signatures.
• The petition argues the three stimulus checks released over the course of a year have not been sufficient to deal with the financial repercussions brought on by the pandemic.
• Senate Democrats have been urging both Congress to pass recurring relief checks to stave off financial difficulty.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

More than 2 million people have so far signed a petition calling for monthly stimulus checks in the amount of $2,000 to support Americans as the pandemic continues.

The petition, which was first posted on Change.org last year, was started by Colorado restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin.

“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 wrote on 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 urges Congress to issue “immediate checks and recurring payments.”

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

There have been three rounds of stimulus checks in the last 15 months since the onset of the pandemic.

The last stimulus check was passed under President Joe Biden in the amount of $1,400 to eligible Americans. Congress has been slow to issue stimulus checks because of partisan disagreements between Republicans and Democrats. Each party has had different visions of the amount allocated per check and other relief measures the overall spending package would include.

The Trump administration issued two stimulus checks – the first in the amount of $1,200 and the second in the amount of $600. Nine months passed between both rounds.

Bonin criticized the amount of time it took Congress to come to an agreement.

“Another single check won’t solve our problems – people are just too far behind,” Bonin wrote on the petition. “Like we’ve been saying from the beginning of this pandemic, people need to know when the next check is coming. And the best thing our government can do right now is send emergency money to the people on a monthly basis.”

Bonin’s petition has garnered so much support that Change.org recognized it in its list of top 10 petitions that changed 2020.

Senate Democrats have been urging both Congress and the Biden administration to pass recurring relief checks to help stave off the financial devastation brought on by the coronavirus.

“Supplying Americans with monthly support until they can get back on their feet can save our communities from financial ruin,” Bonin wrote.