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SACRAMENTO, Calif .– California lawmakers on Monday cleared the way for 5.7 million people to secure at least $ 600 in one-time payments, as part of a state-sized coronavirus relief program aimed at help low-income people overcome what they hope will be the last legs of the pandemic.
The state legislature passed the bill by a wide margin on Monday, moving faster than their congressional counterparts who are also considering another round of stimulus checks for the nation.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would sign it on Tuesday. People eligible for the money should get it between 45 and 60 days after receiving their state tax refunds, according to the Franchise Tax Board.
One of those people is Judy Jackson, a 75-year-old former teacher and cancer survivor who lives on about $ 1,000 a month from other government programs. Jackson said she would use some of the money to pay for a freezer she bought so she could have food delivered to her home and avoid going out shopping during the pandemic.
“Most months, I worry at the end of the month whether the money is going to run out before the month,” said Jackson, who said she was at higher risk of COVID-19 in due to its age and a number of underlying factors. health conditions. “It will allow you to have a little extra and maybe buy an ice cream from time to time.”
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The stimulus payments are part of a larger aid package that the state legislature approved on Monday worth $ 7.6 billion. It includes more than $ 2 billion in grants for small businesses, waives about $ 25.6 million in commercial fees for struggling restaurants and barbers, and provides $ 30 million in assistance to food banks and $ 5 million more to diaper banks.
Stimulus checks are targeting fewer people than federal stimulus payments last year. About $ 2.3 billion will go to those who claim and receive the California earned income tax credit. Typically, these are people who earn $ 30,000 a year or less.
Another $ 470 million will go to people who earn a maximum of $ 75,000 per year after deductions and who use a taxpayer identification number to file their income tax returns. These are mostly people who do not have a social security number, including immigrants.
Some people fall into both of these categories. In these cases, they will receive $ 1,200, not $ 600. The Democratic-controlled state legislature did it because most of the people who file their taxes this way are immigrants who weren’t eligible for federal stimulus checks approved by Congress last year.
About $ 993 million will go to people who receive assistance from public programs targeting low-income families, the elderly, the blind and the disabled.
California has the money to do so in part because the state – the most populous in the country with nearly 40 million people – has many wealthy people who have been less affected by the pandemic and continue to pay taxes.
California lost 1.5 million jobs last year, mostly low-wage workers in the hotel and restaurant industry. Meanwhile, employment among people earning $ 60,000 a year or more increased over the past year as people moved to working from home.
The result is that California has an estimated one-time surplus of $ 15 billion to spend this year, a number that could rise further later this year, once again people will be filing their taxes.
“We have to recognize that this pandemic has not hit us all the same,” said Joaquin Arambula, state deputy, Democrat of Fresno.
California has some of the country’s toughest coronavirus business rules, banning indoor dining in much of the state and ordering retailers to limit the number of people allowed inside their stores .
Last year, Newsom used its emergency clearance to set aside $ 500 million for grants of up to $ 25,000 for small businesses affected by the pandemic. But in the first round of funding, the state received more than 334,000 applications totaling more than $ 4.4 billion in grants.
On Monday, the Legislature added an additional $ 2 billion to this program. Businesses with revenues between $ 1,000 and $ 2.5 million are eligible and must be opened or at least have a plan to reopen when permitted.
Carson Democrat MP Mike Gipson said small business owners in his district were “praying for an answer.”
“This is the answer to their prayers,” he said.
But some Republicans, voting for the bill, criticized Newsom for “the harm and harm” he has caused to businesses by ordering statewide shutdowns during the height of the pandemic.
“This bill didn’t have to be as big as it is today,” said MP James Gallagher, a Republican from Yuba City. “This governor arbitrarily and unilaterally decided to shut down most of the small businesses in this state. As a result, many businesses have already gone out of business and that should be a problem for all of us.”
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