Newsom Signs COVID Relief Package That Will Send $600 Payments To Nearly 6 Million Californians
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills into law Tuesday to help people and businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, including one that will distribute one-time payments of $600 to nearly 6 million Californians.
"This $7.6 billion dollars of direct relief that we're providing today not only supports small businesses, but supports, as the pro tem said, some 5.7 million Californians with direct stimulus check relief," Newsom said at a news conference Tuesday.
The stimulus package will include direct relief payments of at least $600 to people making less than $75,000, which represents a total of 5.7 million payments to low-income Californians. The payments will be sent to taxpayers within 45 to 60 days after they file their 2020 tax returns. Stimulus payments will also be sent to immigrants, regardless of status.
The package also includes grants of up to $25,000 for small businesses; waives state license fees for restaurants, bars, salons and barbershops; and gives another $24 million for financial assistance and services through Housing for the Harvest, which supports farmworkers who have had to quarantine due to COVID-19.
"Californians have been hurting. Our response tackles the human and economic impacts of COVID in a way that echoes President Biden's American Rescue Plan and will help those who are hurting most," state Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a statement. "We are building an economic foundation for the recovery of jobs, small businesses and, indeed, our everyday lives."