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For Amer­i­cans who have had a tough year finan­cial­ly amid Covid-19, a sec­ond set of $1,200 stim­u­lus checks would pro­vide some much wel­come relief.

But law­mak­ers on Capi­tol Hill still need to work out their dif­fer­ences before they can approve anoth­er coro­n­avirus stim­u­lus pack­age that will trig­ger those payments.

Now, a group of more than 125 econ­o­mists includ­ing Jason Fur­man, a for­mer top eco­nom­ic advi­sor to Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma, is call­ing for more direct cash pay­ments to Amer­i­can fam­i­lies to help them weath­er the eco­nom­ic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.