BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – President Biden says stimulus checks should be out by the end of the month now that the Senate has passed its version of the stimulus bill.

Buffalo City Hall is slated to get one of the biggest checks locally.

The City of Buffalo is slated to receive $350 million in direct aid under the Senate’s stimulus bill. It’s even higher than the House version, and seems generous in comparison. New York State would receive $12.5 billion, or the equivalent of 12 percent of the state budget.

Erie County would get $178 million, which also reflects about 12 percent of the county budget.

However, if the city does receive $350 million, that’s enough to cover 67 percent of this year’s entire city budget.

“Obviously Buffalo is a city in need of the stimulus,” Common Council President Darius Pridgen said. “The council has been rather consistent in a majority of the council in the feeling that if we did receive money, one of the first priorities must be getting our fiscal house in order which has suffered from the pandemic.”

According to the details released by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the money can be used to cover costs for responding to the pandemic or its negative impacts to households and small businesses, to workers who perform essential work or cover losses related to the pandemic.

“To be honest with you, if we could save some of that money and do work without bonding for the next two, three, four years that would be millions of dollars of savings of the debt service every single year,” said Joseph Golombek, Common Council Member.

The House is expected to pass the Senate’s version of the bill on Wednesday. The president then signs it and the stimulus checks would go out in a few weeks.