Photo: KBJR-TV

By Peter Kvietkauskas of KBJR-TV - March 13, 2021

President Joe Biden's 1.9 trillion dollar covid relief bill will include a $1,400 stimulus check for many Americans.

Monica Haynes, with the Bureau of business and economic research at UMD, says this will have a big impact on many Northlanders.

"For families that earn $150,000 or less, they will be receiving $1,400 checks for each family member, so it will affect, you know, the majority of the households in the city of Duluth and the surrounding area," said Haynes.

Haynes went onto say data from the two previous rounds of stimulus checks suggest that this bodes well for the local economy.

Beth Daly visiting Duluth from St. Paul agrees and says this money is essential to her and many others.

She says this helps with day-to-day expenses as well as extra financial security during this challenging time.

"You know, it just keeps you going and keeps you alive hopefully, you can stay and where you're living," said Daly.

Haynes agrees and adds any extra money in people's pockets helps to support local businesses especially, those within the struggling leisure and hospitality sector.

"That's going to be money that will immediately be spent in the local economy because you know if you're struggling, then that is a pretty sizable chunk of change that you're going to be putting right back into local establishments businesses like you know restaurants," said Haynes.

Haynes went onto say many economists expect this will help speed up the recovery timeline by as much as a few years.

To watch a video version of this report and see related stories, follow this link to the KBJR-TV website.  https://kbjr6.com/2021/03/13/latest-stimulus-check-is-good-news-for-northland-economy/