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$62M stimulus out, $20M still available
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Posted on Apr 21 2021
The Department of Finance distributed roughly over $62 million of the third stimulus checks last week and the CNMI government still has $20 million remaining, according to Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig last Friday.
In response to a question during a radio press briefing, Atalig said they still have that $20 million in the bank, so they’re not going to request for any additional drawdown or for additional funds right now.
“Just to assure the community that every taxpayer that is qualified could avail of the stimulus. They’ll get it, one way or the other. There is no running out of funds,” he said.
But just in case, should the CNMI requests for additional funds, Atalig assured that all taxpayers will get their stimulus as the U.S. Internal Revenue Services is committed to providing those funds.
With respect to the small batch of checks that Finance released last Friday, Atalig said they’re dealing with some of the accounts so that people that have had their bank accounts frozen or closed can still get their stimulus.
“We’re working on that to get that stimulus. I don’t have the total amount. I know, it’s about 158 taxpayers. The number I received was about 158,” he said.
Atalig said they will be batching the stimulus checks as being available to distribute on a weekly basis.
He will have further guidance and more details this week on that when he meets with the Division of Revenue and Taxation.
If they need more funding for the third stimulus, Atalig said that part of their implementation plan and agreement with IRS is that they will submit the names, the information, the amounts, and request for drawdown with IRS.
“Normally, that process takes about a week to get those funds into us. At the moment we still have around $20 million in the bank for stimulus Part 3,” Atalig said.
He earlier disclosed that the payment of stimulus funds to over 31,000 taxpayers, either via direct deposit or paper checks, went out as planned last April 12.
