Californians who qualify for a $ 600 state stimulus payment can see the money arrive a month after filling out their tax returns under a $ 7.6 billion COVID-19 economic relief package, approved Monday by the state legislature.
Prepared by Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders last week, the pandemic assistance plan also includes more than $ 2.1 billion in grants and tax exemptions for small businesses. These companies may soon apply for concessions, followed by an approval process that state officials estimate would take 45 days.
The legislature is expected to adopt another $ 2 billion in tax incentives for businesses this week, which would raise the total package to $ 9.6 billion.
Stimulus aid for residents earning $ 30,000 a year or less will come much faster – four to five weeks on average after they submit 2020 tax returns to the state Franchise Tax Council if they also apply for direct deposit said HD Palmer, a spokesman for the California Department of Finance. The wait can last up to seven weeks for those who receive $ 600 in state checks.
“This is such an important bill because it gives millions of hard-working Californians the instant money they desperately need during this difficult period, during this pandemic,” said Representative Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) on Monday fair during the debate before the approval of the Legislative half a dozen bills that make up the economic relief package. Newsom said he hoped to sign the measures on Tuesday.
Some 5.7 million payments, totaling $ 2.3 billion, will go to low-income Californians under the Golden State Stimulus program, which aims to help those facing more difficult financial difficulties, said state senator Nancy Skinner (D- Berkeley).
“Our lowest-paid workers have been disproportionately affected,” said Skinner, chairman of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.
The COVID-19 relief package was made possible by higher than expected tax revenues in California, despite the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic.
About 3.8 million of the payments will go to families who have qualified for the state’s income tax credit for 2020, which is available to residents earning less than $ 30,000 a year.
About 565,000 stimulus payments will go to those with individual tax identification numbers that have not received federal stimulus payments and whose income is less than $ 75,000, many of whom are illegally immigrants in the country. Taxpayers with individual identification numbers who also qualify for the California state income tax credit would receive a total of $ 1,200 in state incentives.
The $ 600 stimulus payments will also go to 1.2 million people who receive money from the supplemental federal security revenue or state supplemental payment programs, and 405,000 payments will be provided to participants in CalWORKS, the state welfare program. be for work. An additional 15,000 payments are planned for participants in the Immigrant Cash Assistance Program.
CalWORKS payments will be placed on EBT cards and issued to participants in mid-April, although the timing may change based on the ability to automate the process, Palmer said. The timing and method of paying subsidies for those receiving SSI and SSP is still being worked out and depends on conversations with the Federal Social Security Administration, he added.
The $ 600 stimulus checks for low-income residents could be enough to put food on the table for a month for a family and pay for public services, said Maeve Elise Brown, executive director of the advocacy group Housing and Economic Rights Advocates.
“It gives people time to start emerging from a pandemic outbreak,” said Brown. “This is $ 600 which can be the difference for some people between surviving and not surviving.”
The aid package that generated the most debate in legislative hearings was the proposal to provide stimulus checks to immigrants in the country illegally.
State Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) questioned the money supply when the state budget, although full now, could be in trouble in the future if the COVID-19-related recession continues.
“This budget will create long-term obligations for the undocumented,” said Nielsen during a legislative debate.
Skinner noted that the stimulus checks for immigrants it is a one-off payment, not an ongoing budget obligation, while state senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) said the proposal for immigrants and other low-income residents is important, but it does not go far enough.
“I think it is a big step forward. It is an acknowledgment to all these low-income workers … that they are working hard and have been disproportionately affected by unemployment, ”said Durazo. “I think there is room to include more people who are not yet covered by either our state or the federal [programs]. “
Defenders of immigrants said that many would not receive a stimulus check because they do not have individual taxpayer identification numbers, and noted that immigrants also cannot obtain unemployment insurance or federal stimulus.
“This does not cover all the relief from which they were excluded and, as a result, we are creating inequality,” Sasha Feldstein, manager of the California Immigrant Policy Center, told lawmakers during a budget hearing.
She noted that an immigrant family with two parents and two children would be entitled to a maximum of $ 1,200 in state stimulus, which is about 21% of the federal relief from which they were excluded.
“More is needed to protect thousands of undocumented workers left out,” added Fanelly Millán, organizer of the Center for Economic Opportunities in Pomona.
The aid package approved by the governor and the legislature also provides $ 2.1 billion in grants from $ 5,000 to $ 25,000, a program administered by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate.
“This will help small, qualified companies that have been devastated economically by the COVID pandemic,” said state senator Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), author of the bill. “As we know, small businesses across the state continued to struggle to survive during home stay requests.”
She cited a recent survey by the advocacy group Small Business Majority, which found that 35% of small businesses were three months from closing if they did not get additional financial assistance.
Congressman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said during Monday’s debate that the relief bill would not have to be as big as it was if the state had not forced companies to close for so long.
“This governor decided arbitrarily and unilaterally to close most small businesses in this state and, as a result, many small businesses have already closed their doors,” Gallagher told his colleagues before joining the bipartisan vote to support the business subsidies project.
Legislative approval of the grant money came a few months after Newsom launched the program with an executive order that provided $ 500 million in donated money to 21,000 small businesses.
But the demand for scholarships is greater than the money available. In the first round of concessions, 350,000 small businesses placed orders, seeking more than $ 4.5 billion, officials said.
Companies with annual gross revenue of up to $ 2.5 million are eligible. Since not all applicants will receive a grant, applications are ranked and judged based on criteria that include whether the company is in an industry sector most affected by the pandemic.
Applications will also be scored to ensure that there is wide geographic distribution and that companies belonging to people of color are fairly represented.
“Our commitment to this effort is with underprivileged communities and underrepresented communities, which means that we will be paying close attention to where that money goes,” Newsom said on Monday during a press conference in Arvin.
Once a company is notified that it has been selected for a concession, it will face additional verification requirements before the money is disbursed, said Kaitlin Lewis, a state spokesman.
“All final prizes will be completed within 45 business days after a round closes and companies are checked and paid on an ongoing basis,” said Lewis.
A portion of the aid package for which a vote is scheduled this week would allow companies to deduct up to $ 150,000 in expenses covered by loans under the Federal Check Protection Plan. More than 750,000 PPP loans were made by small California businesses, officials said.
Two years of tax exemption will also be provided for some 59,000 restaurants and bars licensed by the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, according to projects approved on Monday. They typically pay annual fees ranging from $ 455 to $ 1,235. More than 550,000 barbershop and cosmetology licenses will also be waived.
In addition, $ 50 million will go to donations to cultural institutions that have suffered financially because of the pandemic. The package also includes scholarships for students from community colleges and additional money for daycare centers, food banks, diapers and housing for quarantined farm workers.