U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner has cosponsored a bill to give parents of babies born in 2020 access to the $500 federal payment that the CARES Act allocated for dependent children as part of the coronavirus economic relief.

“People need relief now, not in a year’s time. This is especially true for new parents,” said Gardner. “While the CARES Act took bold steps to provide immediate relief, we must continue to improve it to ensure it reaches people in need.”

The $500 payment – and $1,200 to adults – was based off of the 2019 tax year, meaning that newborns are not counted.

“If these kids did not exist in 2019, you can’t currently apply under the CARES Act for the $500 for your dependents because as far as the IRS is concerned, those kids don’t exist yet,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., told POLITICO. “They don’t exist until you file the paperwork with the IRS in 2021.”

The Newborn CARES Act would require the Internal Revenue Services to direct payments to families whose babies have a social security number. Duckworth is working to incorporate the bill into the next coronavirus relief legislation.