$600 CA Stimulus Checks OK'd For 5.7 Million. Do You Qualify?

CALIFORNIA — Some 5.7 million Golden State residents who qualify could receive a $600 state stimulus payment after filing their tax returns this year. The checks are part of a coronavirus relief package approved by the Legislature on Monday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who authored the "direct relief" package, signed the legislation into law Tuesday morning at Solomon's Delicatessen in Sacramento.

The so-called "Golden State Stimulus" checks are part of a $7.6 billion coronavirus aid package that includes more than $2.1 billion in grants and fee waivers for small businesses and another $2 billion in tax breaks for businesses.

Who will get the stimulus?

Generally, those who are eligible are Californians who have an annual income of $30,000 or less.

Those who have individual tax identification numbers and make $75,000 a year or less will also qualify. Many such payments will go to people living in the country without documentation.

"Regardless of your status, those who have been left behind in that federal stimulus, California is not going to leave you behind," Newsom said Tuesday morning.

Low-income families who receive assistance from the federal supplemental security income or state supplementary payment programs will be eligible. Those who benefit from CalWORKS, California's welfare-to-work assistance program, will also benefit and will receive payments on debit cards, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some will be eligible under both categories and could receive up to $1,200.

The one-time payment could arrive to Californians over a month after they file 2020 tax returns with the state Franchise Tax Board, the Times reported. Those who sign up for direct deposit could see the money a bit sooner.

The governor on Tuesday highlighted the importance of lending a hand to workers who don't have legal documentation after he traveled to Kern County on Monday.

"I had the privilege of being in Madera, some 12 or so hours ago; farm workers, food workers never took a day off, never complained, and were there to make sure that everything was on your table and tables across this country," Newsom said. "I'm very honored to be here today as governor of the state that's not leaving those folks behind as it relates to legislation that addresses their need, and provide relief directly, not only to individuals but households of mixed status."

The state's pandemic relief package will ultimately total just shy of $10 million, Newsom said, after the Legislature moves to assess another $2.3 billion in tax breaks for businesses.

"The backbone of our economy is small business," Newsom said Tuesday. "We recognize the stress, the strain, that so many small businesses have been under. And we'd recognize as well our responsibility to do more and do better to help support these small businesses through this very difficult and trying time."

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The package deal will also include fee waivers for qualifying restaurants and bars licensed under the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and those with barbering and cosmetology licenses.

“We need to rise to the challenge of helping our small businesses and nonprofits that have been deeply impacted by COVID-19,” Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) said of the relief package in a Tuesday statement. “Our small businesses will be feeling the impacts of coronavirus for months and years to come. We need to prioritize this heavily impacted space not just to safeguard our economy, but to ensure that people have the opportunity to get back up on their feet.”

The plan will also include aid for college students both in community college and at four-year universities.

"We're doing more to support our community college system with financial aid and grants of $100 million," Newsom said. "We're not just doing that community college, we're doing it the UC and CSU over $300 million."

California's own stimulus checks match the federal stimulus of $600, providing upward of $1,200 to some Californians who qualify for both state and federal payments.

"These bills help Californians pay their bills, and provide bread-and-butter relief to the small businesses that make our communities great, and who in turn, are the cornerstone of our economy. Stores we rely upon, restaurants we love, and services our families have turned to for years,” said Senate President pro tempore Toni G. Atkins in a Tuesday statement. “"This is what we can do right now to help them, but it isn’t the end of our efforts. Not by a long shot."

Newsom laid out his $227 billion budget plan last month, which included a $15 billion economic relief package, as the state faced the height of its winter surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

This budget proposal, reportedly the most expensive budget in California's history, was made possible by a windfall that came down from California's wealthiest residents and growing tax revenue despite the anticipated economic shortfall of the coronavirus pandemic.

California leaders made some deep spending cuts to the state's budget last year, bracing for a $54.3 billion shortfall spurred by the pandemic, but that didn't happen.

"Folks at the top [are] doing pretty damn well," Newsom said at a news conference in early January.

"This will act as a bridge while we wait for more federal relief," Newsom tweeted in January.

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