Low-income families in California are getting a bonus stimulus check.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators have unveiled a statewide stimulus package that will result in $9.5 billion in aid, largely in the form of $600 checks and $2 billion in small-business assistance. The checks are separate from the third round of federal stimulus payments that are still being hammered out by Congress.
California’s $600 payments will go to families that earned less than $30,000 last year and received the California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Undocumented immigrant families, who did not receive federal relief, will receive checks of $1,200 if they meet the qualifications for the EITC.
Also receiving $600 checks are people on the state’s welfare program, CalWorks; disabled and elderly people in the SSI/SSP program; and those in the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants. All totaled, the state expects to make $3.7 billion in individual assistance payments.
The $2 billion for small-business assistance is nearly quadruple the original proposal. The deal will allow businesses that received funds via the Payroll Protection Plan to deduct on their state taxes up to $150,000 in expenses that were covered by those loans.
The deal will also provide $525 to 400,000 children who are enrolled in state-subsidized childcare and preschool programs—and offer subsidized childcare to another 8,000.
California’s not the only state giving out supplemental stimulus checks. Maryland is offering checks of $300 per individual or $500 per family to nearly 425,000 residents. Those checks will be in bank accounts by Friday, officials say.
The state relief plans come as the U.S. House and Senate work to strike a deal over a new economic aid package that would see $1,400 stimulus checks sent to citizens. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she hopes to pass the bill by the end of the month and have it on the President’s desk before March 14.
If that timeline holds, the next round of federal checks could hit bank accounts by March 20.