The “Golden State stimulus,” an ambitious COVID-19 relief program, will be accelerated for legislative approval next week after Governor Gavin Newsom announced an agreement on the plan on Wednesday.
It is part of a $ 9.6 billion economic recovery package. In addition to federal daycare assistance funds, the rest of the aid package comes from state taxpayers’ money and is possible due to tax collection that was much better than expected.
Here are the key points:
$ 600 state stimulus payment
The one-time payment of $ 600 for families, which Newsom proposed last month, would cost about $ 2.3 billion and would go to people including those who received the California income tax credit for 2020, granted to people who earn less than $ 30,000 a year. In addition, the agreement would provide a stimulus check for taxpayers with individual tax identification numbers who have not received federal stimulus payments and whose income is less than $ 75,000.
Beneficiaries include immigrants who are in the country illegally and who complete tax forms. ITIN taxpayers who also qualify for California income tax credit would receive a total of $ 1,200, state leaders said.
In all, the state would provide 5.7 million payments to low-income Californians.
Eligibility: California residents could qualify for earned income tax credit if they had an annual income of $ 30,000 or less, which last year included 3.9 million taxpayers. The aid package offers a one-time $ 600 grant for families enrolled in the CalWORKS public assistance program and recipients of supplementary security income and the state’s cash assistance program for immigrants.
$ 2.1 billion in small business grants
The grant proposal, which requires legislative approval, is based on a $ 500 million program that has provided financial assistance to 21,000 small businesses since December.
The tax break will be provided over the next few years, exempting the first $ 150,000 of expenses paid out of funds from the Federal Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. In addition, the package includes $ 116 million in two-year fee exemptions for heavily affected service sectors.
Other provisions
- $ 100 million in emergency financial aid for qualified low-income students with six or more units at California Community Colleges
- $ 24 million for financial aid and services through Housing for the Harvest, which supports farm workers who need to be quarantined because of COVID-19
- $ 35 million for food banks and diapers
- $ 6 million for outreach and application assistance to students at the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges who became eligible for CalFresh, the federal food assistance program
Federal relief
The new state programs would be in addition to federal aid programs from Washington, DC, including $ 600 per person stimulus checks already approved by Congress and direct payments of up to $ 1,400 per person that have been proposed by House Democrats.