A fourth stimulus check from Biden is looking doubtful — ask your state instead

You may be holding out hope that the government will provide a fourth stimulus check to help you and other Americans pay bills and deal with debt during the remaining days of the pandemic.

You may indeed get additional relief, though not from the usual source.

Millions of people, including close allies of President Joe Biden, have been calling for direct payments to continue until the economy is fully healed from its COVID concussion. But so far, there’s no sign Washington is moving toward approving even one more round of checks.

Rather than wait for federal action that may never materialize, some states are now providing stimulus checks of their own. And, more states could soon start distributing cash — with an assist from Biden’s administration.

States move to offer stimulus checks

Two states already have approved their own stimulus checks to help people cope with the lingering financial shocks from the COVID crisis.

Earlier this year, Maryland made direct payments to residents who claimed the earned income tax credit on their 2019 state tax returns. Individuals got $300 and families received $500.

In February, California lawmakers passed the Golden State Stimulus program, with payments of $600 or $1,200; eligibility is based on tax information from the 2020 state returns being filed this year.

Last week, embattled California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $100 billion plan that would provide a second round of state stimulus checks for about two-thirds of Californians. Households with incomes up to $75,000 would receive either $600 or $1,100.

The plan was made possible by a surge in tax revenue collected from California’s high-income earners during the pandemic. But it turns out states may not need to use their own money to provide stimulus for their residents.

Federal money could allow more states to send checks

The pandemic rescue bill President Biden signed in mid-March — the one that has given $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans — also contained $350 billion in aid for state and local governments that can be used to make direct payments.

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The U.S. Treasury last week released a set of rules for spending the money, and the guidelines indicate it would be OK for states to distribute stimulus checks similar in size to those paid out by the federal government, which have ranged from $600 to $1,400 per person.

If your state decides to use the funding to dole out COVID relief payments, you’d be eligible if you’ve “experienced unemployment or increased food or housing insecurity” because of the pandemic, the guidelines indicate. Census data shows most stimulus money is still used for food, rent and mortgage payments.

And while some people have famously been investing in the sizzling stock market with their “stimmies, others have spent the cash on nonessential, but necessary, things including clothes and affordable life insurance. Demand for policies has skyrocketed amid the pandemic.

It’s not clear yet which states will take the federal government’s money — and advice — and follow California and Maryland by issuing their own stimulus checks.

What about another ‘stimmy’ from Washington?

Meanwhile, more than 2.2 million Americans aren’t giving up on more stimulus checks from Washington. They’ve signed a Change.org petition calling for ongoing payments of $2,000 until the COVID crisis has passed.

Dozens of Democrats in Congress have been pushing for the same thing, but congressional leaders haven’t given any signals. The White House says it’s up to Congress to decide whether there will be more direct pandemic support for Americans.

The COVID aid bill providing the latest round of stimulus checks faced challeges on its way to passage, and got over the finish line more through congressional hocus-pocus than through negotiation.

Biden is currently…