More COVID-19 Money For Riverside County Residents, Businesses?

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As Riverside County's coronavirus figures were released Wednesday — showing continued improvement in hospitalization rates — Gov. Gavin Newsom and the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly announced that they reached an agreement on a California COVID-19 relief package, including $600 one-time payments to the state’s low-income taxpayers and $2 billion in grants for the Golden State's small businesses.

Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, made the joint announcement. State legislators are expected to consider the agreement in the coming days.

“As we continue to fight the pandemic and recover, I’m grateful for the Legislature’s partnership to provide urgent relief and support for California families and small businesses where it’s needed most,” Newsom said.

Below are key provisions of the "Immediate Action Agreement" announced Thursday:

Individuals and Families

The agreement provides $600 in one-time relief to households receiving California's earned income tax credit for 2020. In addition, the agreement provides a $600 one-time payment to taxpayers with individual tax identification numbers who were precluded from receiving the $1,200 per person federal payments issues last spring and the more recent $600 federal payments.

The agreement would provide the $600 payments to households with individual tax identification numbers and income below $75,000. Taxpayers who also qualify for the California earned income tax credit would receive a total of $1,200.

The payments will be provided to these households shortly after they file their 2020 tax returns.

The agreement broadens this initial plan and now provides direct relief to more lower-income Californians through a $600 one-time grant to households enrolled in the CalWORKS program and recipients of SSI/SSP and Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).

Grant payments for CalWORKS households are expected by mid-April; timing for the delivery of SSI/SSP and CAPI grants is currently under discussion with federal officials.

Small Businesses

More than $2 billion would be available in the form of grants up to $25,000 for small businesses impacted by the pandemic and $50 million for cultural institutions.

The agreement also partially conforms California tax law to new federal tax treatment for loans provided through the Paycheck Protection Plan, allowing companies to deduct up to $150,000 in expenses covered by the PPP loan.

All businesses that took out loans of $150,000 or less would be able to maximize their deduction for state purposes. Larger firms that took out higher loans would still be subject to the same ceiling of $150,000 in deductibility.

More than 750,000 PPP loans were taken out by California small businesses.

This tax treatment would also extend to the Economic Injury Disaster Loans as well.

Fee Waivers for Most Impacted Licensees

The agreement would provide two years of fee relief for roughly 59,000 restaurants and bars licensed through the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control that can range annually from $455 to $1,235. The agreement also reflects fee relief for more than 600,000 barbering and cosmetology individuals and businesses licensed through the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Child Care

The agreement adds just over $400 million in new federal funds that will provide stipends of $525 per enrolled child for all state-subsidized child care and preschool providers serving approximately 400,000 children in subsidized care statewide. The new federal resources will extend care for children of essential workers through June of 2022, and funds increased access to subsidized child care for more than 8,000 children of essential workers and at-risk children – who are not currently served in the system – through June of 2022.

Additional Aid

The agreement provides an additional $24 million for financial assistance and services through Housing for the Harvest — a program providing support for agricultural workers who have to quarantine due to COVID-19. The agreement also provides a combined $35 million for food banks and diapers.

Community College Students

The agreement provides an additional $100 million in emergency financial aid for qualifying low-income students carrying six or more units, with award amounts to be determined locally and made available by early April. The agreement also provides $20 million to reengage students who have either left their community college studies because of the pandemic or to engage students at risk of leaving.

CalFresh Student Outreach and Application Assistance

The agreement provides roughly $6 million to support outreach and application assistance to University of California, California State University and California Community College students made newly eligible for CalFresh — the state-administered federal program for supplemental food assistance. The agreement also provides $12 million in state funds to support associated county administrative workload.

Separately, the Governor and legislative leaders said that discussions are continuing on measures for the reopening of the state’s K-12 schools, including strategies to address learning loss caused by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Riverside County's coronavirus figures appear to continue trending in the right direction.

According to the Riverside University Health System, COVID-19 hospitalizations countywide fell to 553 Wednesday, compared to 567 on Tuesday, and that includes 177 ICU patients, one less than a day ago. ICU bed availability countywide technically remained at 0 percent.

RUHS figures showed the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded since the public health documentation period began in March is 287,063, up 473 from Tuesday.

Officials said there have been a total 3,577 deaths from virus-related complications in the last 11 months, compared to 3,558 reported Tuesday.