The stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan have been rolling out for months, but not everyone expecting a payment has actually received one.

And now, a U.S. senator is vowing to help her constituents who have not yet received their checks.

In a letter this week to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) made it known that many in her state have not yet received their stimulus payments, and that “more needs to be done” to rectify that.

“Over the last several weeks, I have heard from additional Granite Staters who have yet to receive their full Economic Impact Payments. As you know, Economic Impact Payments are a critical lifeline for millions of Americans, including thousands of my constituents who have seen their livelihoods and health impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hassan, a Democrat, wrote to Rettig.

“It is clear, though, that more needs to be done. I have heard directly from Granite Staters who have yet to receive their third Economic Impact Payment, despite being told that they are eligible,” the senator wrote. “The IRS has told constituents who have not received their payments and whose payment status is unavailable on the Get My Payment portal that this is ‘due to a systemic issue.’”

Hassan went on to ask the IRS to “dedicate additional resources to ensuring that remaining Economic Impact Payments are issued as quickly as possible.”

Hassan was one of the senators who, earlier this spring, asked the Treasury Department for guidance as to how states should handle stimulus checks for prisoners.

“To the extent permitted by applicable state and local law, amounts paid in the third round of [economic impact payments] may be subject to garnishment by state governments, local governments, or private creditors, as well as pursuant to a court order (which may include fines related to a crime, administrative court fees, restitution, and other court-ordered debts),” Treasury wrote in a letter to Hassan and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who had written a previous letter seeking guidance.

In 2019, a former aide to Hassan was sentenced to probation for her part in what was described as “the largest data theft in Senate history.” The former Hassan aide was said to have sold her office key to another aide, who installed spyware on computers and managed to obtain Senate staffers’ credit card information and Social Security numbers. The male staffer received four years.

The theft was described by prosecutors as “an extraordinarily extensive data-theft scheme, copying entire network drives, sorting and organizing sensitive data, and exploring ways to use that data to his benefit.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist, and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters