Still Don't Have Your Stimulus Check? Here Are the 5 Likeliest Reasons Why

Three months ago, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was hardly on the radar for most Americans. Today, it's completely upended the largest economy in the world, displacing more than 20 million workers and unceremoniously ending the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.

With no clear-cut end in sight to this pandemic, Congress passed and the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27. At $2.2 trillion, the CARES Act is the biggest relief package ever signed into law on Capitol Hill.

Among the many purposes of the CARES Act, it directed $500 billion to distressed industries and nearly $350 billion to small business loans, gave $100 billion to hospitals, and set aside $260 billion to expand the unemployment benefits program (i.e., the extra $600 per week through the end of July 2020). But what folks can most relate to is the $300 billion apportioned for direct payouts to workers and seniors.