[danaris]

Just due to being on HN, you're statistically likely to be someone who has plenty of savings already.

Most of America does not.

If people are getting laid off en-masse, the majority of those people will, within a few weeks, not have enough money to afford basic necessities. Giving each of them $1k/month would soften the blow considerably.

Giving them $3k/month would, for most of them, get them back close to where they were before the layoff, and keep the economy functioning.