U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined with her Senate colleagues call to push Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to ensure Americans without a permanent address receive their coronavirus stimulus payments. New York City has the largest homeless population in America and reports have shown that people experiencing homelessness are at much greater risk of contracting and perishing from COVID-19. In the letter, Sen. Gillibrand and her colleagues ask the Trump administration to grant all qualifying Americans their emergency stimulus payments, regardless of address or socioeconomic status. The senators also pressed Secretary Mnuchin to launch a public awareness campaign so those experiencing homelessness are aware of their eligibility for these vital payments.
“New Yorkers experiencing homelessness already face steep and unique barriers when confronting this pandemic,” said Senator Gillibrand. “It is our job as public servants to protect our most vulnerable in a time of crisis. Secretary Mnuchin and the Trump administration must ensure that all qualifying Americans receive the payments they are entitled to and that socioeconomic disparities will not impede how we deliver care during this crisis.”
Senator Gillibrand and her colleagues have called on Secretary Mnuchin to publish guidance stating that Americans without a permanent address or bank account are not precluded from relief payments. They also urged the Department to publish specific procedures to help those without a bank account, government-issued identification, or a permanent address access their payments. Finally, the senators pushed the secretary to conduct a public awareness campaign aimed at identifying Americans experiencing homelessness and helping them get their payments.
Full text of the letter can be found here.