Senators will Continue Pushing to Ensure Veterans Can Receive Checks Automatically 

Denver – Following calls from Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it would issue stimulus checks automatically to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program beneficiaries. Bennet and the senators will continue pushing to ensure recipients of benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs will receive their checks automatically.

Earlier this month, Bennet and his colleagues led the entire Democratic caucus in calling on the Trump Administration to issue checks to both veterans and SSI beneficiaries automatically. In their letter, the senators pointed out that both of these groups have a large amount of non-filers and that the federal government has the data necessary to deliver the stimulus checks automatically to members of these groups as well.

The senators’ push followed recent successful efforts to push the U.S. Treasury Department to automatically send Social Security beneficiaries direct cash assistance without having to file tax returns.

“Our SSI beneficiaries cannot afford to miss out on the direct cash assistance included in the CARES Act, and shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to receive their stimulus checks,” said Bennet and his colleagues. “We are pleased the administration heeded our call, and we’ll continue pushing to ensure our veterans will not need to take any additional action in order to receive their payments. This is the fastest, most-effective way to provide desperately needed help to more than 3 million people with disabilities, low-income seniors, and veterans.”

The text of the senators’ initial letter is available HERE.

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