DES MOINES, Iowa — The Internal Revenue Service recently set up an online portal for Americans to track their COVID-19 stimulus checks and to be able to get it quicker by submitting direct deposit information.
But there are many Iowans without internet access, therefore having no way to do that.
In response, Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa wrote a letter to the IRS pitching a phone line to assist constituents.
"We have folks who don't know how they're going to be getting their checks, when they're going to be getting them and if they're even going to the right addresses," Axne said. "I wanted to make sure that we put a phone number in place to allow Iowans to be able to call and get that money that they need as quickly as they possibly can."
Axne says there's an estimated 20 million Americans without internet access and that the IRS should have been prepared.
"How did they not see this coming? It's our responsibility in government and certainly in the departments that implement the policy to be prepared for this," Axne said. "And to not recognize that millions of people across this country don't have the access that they need to get the funds ... it was definitely an error, an oversight."
Axne says she hopes the IRS will get this done quickly.