Eps 1: After two months of limbo, roughly two-thirds of California taxpayers can expect to receive a COVID-19 stimulus check from the state, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office
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Gavin Newsom proposed a second round of 600 state stimulus programs to accelerate California's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday. He would hope to extend payments to lower-income residents, including middle-class families, noting that this would ensure benefits for two-thirds of state residents. Newsom plans to pay an additional $600 to individual taxpayers that earn up to $75,000 of adjusted gross income and $500 to families with dependent children, including undocumented families. The Governor also proposed spending $5.2 billion on $100 in back payments for Californians affected by COVID and $2 billion for Californians to pay overdue water, gas and electricity bills.
Gavin Newsom, facing a runoff election, wants to use the states "sizable surplus" to put money into the pockets of the majority of Californians. Newsom proposed $5 billion to double rent assistance to 100% of the rent repaid in the fall and up to $2 billion in direct payments to pay utility bills, a proposal backed Monday by legislative leaders. The proposal is part of a $100 billion stimulus plan that was made possible by a budget which swelled with a substantial windfall in tax revenues and a surplus Newsom put at $75.7 billion.
The governor has proposed a second round of state stimulus. Details, including who would qualify, were not available late Sunday but the governor's office said that payments would benefit middle class and low-income residents. The rebate plan would cover eligible taxpayers regardless of immigration status, but not the state's $600 stimulus money from a previous program aimed at more than four million low-income Californians.
If lawmakers approve the proposed $11.9 billion payment which would give two-thirds of Californians a $600 stimulus check and families with children an additional $500, it would triple the size of the Golden State stimulus package that Newsom signed into law in February. The package included a $600 one-time payment to an estimated 5.7 million residents who had received state income tax breaks and an additional $600 for low-income and undocumented taxpayers. That included payments to families building on the expanded child tax credit derived from the recent federal stimulus package, which experts say has halved child poverty in the Golden States.
The checks are part of an extension of the Golden State's Economic Stimulus Plan, which has already distributed $3.8 billion in one-time payments of $600 to low-income residents, according to nonprofit Cal Matters. Under the plan, eligible individuals would receive $600 and dependents an additional $500. A second set of stimulus packages would include one-time payments up to $600 to middle-class citizens earning up to $75,000 and another check of $500 to qualified residents with dependents.
Between the two stimulus packages, California will transfer $1.2 billion in direct payments to the state's residents, involving the largest state tax reduction in the US, according to the Governor's Office. According to California's Franchise Tax Board, individuals who meet the first Golden State Stimulus this year can claim dependent payments of $500 to $1,000.
After signing a transformative budget bill yesterday that includes the largest stimulus package in California history, Governor Gavin Newsom visited a youth and family center in Los Angeles today to help Californians whose direct relief is from the $100 billion California Comeback Plan, which includes cash payments from the Golden State stimulus package, support for the nation's largest tenant assistance program and a small business program. The state has already administered 320,718.42 doses of vaccine and 447 Californians have been vaccinated.