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In a divided America, it's rare to find bipartisan support for any legislation coming out of Washington, D.C. There's one big exception, though: There's widespread agreement among voters from both parties that lawmakers need to pass another coronavirus stimulus bill.
A recent YouGov poll found that a whopping 86% of registered voters would approve of Congress "passing an additional economic relief package that would provide funds to people and businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak."
It's certainly understandable that people want the government to address the financial cost of the coronavirus crisis. That's especially true as more states impose new lockdown orders, COVID-19 cases hit new records nationwide, and 12 million people risk losing unemployment benefits the day after Christmas.
The extent of the bipartisan agreement is still unusual, especially since many Americans remain in favor of a stimulus bill even without a second stimulus check.
There's broad support for more coronavirus relief
With 86% of voters in favor of more coronavirus relief, there's clearly agreement from both sides of the aisle. In fact, 94% of Democrats, 85% of independents, and 79% of Republican voters told YouGov they'd approve of a relief package to help individuals and businesses affected by COVID-19.
Broad support for stimulus makes sense when you consider that more than half of Americans (53.1%) are very concerned about how coronavirus has impacted the U.S. economy. And another 32.6% are at least somewhat worried about the virus' economic effects, according to FiveThirtyEight's poll tracking. Close to half of adults fear an economic collapse, even with the positive news of vaccine approvals.
Surprisingly, the YouGov data showed that Americans are even willing to throw their support behind a stimulus package that might not help them personally. And 63% of registered voters said they would support a coronavirus relief bill even if it didn't include stimulus payments. This is far fewer than the number of people in favor of legislation that would deposit money in their bank accounts, but it shows a majority of the public still wants Washington to help those hit hardest by the virus and lockdowns.
The good news is that there are signs a months-long stalemate in relief negotiations may finally be broken. Lawmakers are working through the weekend to find a deal on a coronavirus bill, and party leaders have promised they won't break for the holidays until they get a deal.
Even more optimistically, the deal under negotiation would include another stimulus check -- albeit a smaller one valued at around $600, half as much as the $1,200 stimulus checks authorized by the CARES Act last spring.
Of course, until a bill is actually signed into law, there's no guarantee that long-awaited help will come. But odds seem high that the majority of voters will get their wish, and more COVID-19 relief will finally become a reality.
