Local residents shocked and relieved after receiving stimulus checks
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Shock and relief are spreading throughout the Philadelphia region as people check their bank accounts.
"I was checking it to pay another bill, and I just looked down and was like, 'what's that?'" laughed Bill Repetto of Paoli.
Repetto received his $1,400 stimulus check on Friday.
Twenty-four hours after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion relief plan, $1,400 stimulus checks made their way to individuals making less than $75,000 a year and married couples making up to $150,000.
Linda Oakley of Lawncrest works a full-time job and is a part-time student.
She says she was shocked she already received her check on Friday.
"It was a saving grace because, it seems like the cost of everything is going up," said Oakley. "It's not going down, especially with the gas prices now...it does hit the wallet."
The relief bill, which passed the U.S. House with a vote of 220-211, will provide $300 in unemployment benefits through September 6, $130 billion in direct aid to K-12 schools and $28.6 billion for struggling bars and restaurants.
"A lot of people are hurting right now, so I'm sure for them the timing couldn't be any better," said Juli Johnson of Northeast Philadelphia.
Bill Repetto works for a golf course and a limousine company, and the pandemic was not kind to either industry.
"Our airport business has dropped to nothing," said Repetto.
Repetto says he is looking forward to paying off some credit card debt and paying his school tax bill.
"It gives you some hope that things are going to get back to normal after a tough stretch. It's kind of like a roller coaster," said Repetto. "Things get bad, then things get good, and this is one of those lights at the end of the tunnel that things will get a little better."
