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It’s been 217 days since Congress instructed the IRS to send $1,200 stimulus checks to every citizen below a certain income threshold. And yet, it’s likely as many as 12 million people — including those who most need a financial boost — never got the cash. The reasons include confusion about how the complex program works, IRS missteps, technical snafus and Treasury Department policy decisions that cut out large groups of people altogether. Those who fell through the cracks have until Nov. 21 to claim the money or risk losing out on any second round of stimulus payments, which Congress has been negotiating for months. (DePillis, 10/30)

The economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. Nearly one in 10 U.S. businesses planned to lay off workers during the final three months of the year as a result of the outbreak, according to a survey of human resource executives at 330 companies conducted by The Conference Board last month. The 9% of companies cutting employees in the fourth quarter avoided layoffs earlier in the health crisis, when 29% of firms eliminated staff, according to the survey, whose results were provided exclusively to USA Today. Another 13% of firms plan major restructurings this quarter that could include some layoffs not already counted in the 9%, says Robin Erickson, principal researcher in human capital for The Conference Board. (Davidson, 11/2)

The Saturday before the election, Anthony Rolls, 46, was among the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus and found themselves caught in a social safety net that is failing under a new burden. Rolls’s unemployment benefits stopped nearly seven weeks ago because of bureaucratic confusion. He is two months behind on rent. His phone only works now on WiFi, which means he’s been chained to his townhouse’s 1,344 square feet, firing off emails to elected officials for help and waiting for the phone call from the Maryland department that might fix the situation, while constantly watching election coverage on television. He has voted in every presidential election — until now. Because he moved since the last cycle, he has to go in person on Election Day to register to vote. He is weighing whether he should go to the polls and risk missing that call. "How’s that not voter suppression?" he said. “There are probably hundreds, maybe thousands, of us in this situation and there’s nothing we can do but take it.” (Swenson, 11/1)