EHS students call for an Edina-specific stimmy bill

Following the passage of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, which provides $1,400 stimulus checks to qualifying Americans, two Edina High School students have started a campaign to add a local amendment to the bill. The proposed amendment is titled “The Special Stimmy Checks for Cake Eaters,” and it would provide a $2,800 check to every Edina resident under the age of 18.

“The youth of Edina are in a really unique situation during the pandemic. Our main source of income—biannual checks from grandparents on birthdays and around the holidays—have drastically decreased, if not disappeared entirely due to the financial strenuous nature of the pandemic,” campaign leader and freshman Eugene Sinclair said. 

Sinclair’s co-leader, freshman Susan Villarreal, clarifies one key point of the amendment: It is imperative that the stimulus checks are delivered correctly—accompanied by a hand-written card from President Biden himself. “I haven’t seen my grandparents since quarantine started in March, so I haven’t gotten a birthday or holiday card for the entire year. A big part of my lost income has been the opportunity to open a card and pretend that I don’t see the money while I skim the heartfelt message,” Villarreal said.

When asked about her plans for the money, Villarreal responds, “I guess I don’t really need the money since my college tuition will already be paid in full by my parents, but I may buy a second pair of Airpods or a new Hydroflask just to feel something.”