
The money was provided for residents including those earning $30,000 a year or less who receive the state Earned Income Tax Credit. In February, the governor signed legislation to provide 5.7 million low-income Californians with $2.3 billion in state stimulus checks. This would be the second round of state stimulus checks proposed by the governor. “We are not going to leave anybody behind during this pandemic,” he said at the news conference. Newsom’s proposal is supported by Chris Iglesias, the chief executive of the Unity Council. “Direct aid to people is what is going to get our economy roaring back.” “Oakland is a city that has been hit hard by this pandemic,” she said. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf welcomed the new round of financial help, which she said is “an unprecedented moment where government is coming to the aid of those who need it the most.” In addition to the $600 stimulus checks for eligible Californians, the governor proposed that families with children would get an additional $500.

The expanded program would provide financial assistance to two-thirds of Californians. Under the governor’s proposal, which still requires approval from the Legislature, households earning up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income will be able to receive the second round of stimulus payments.


“Direct stimulus checks going into people’s pockets and direct relief - that’s meaningful,” Newsom said during a visit to the Unity Council, a nonprofit social equity development corporation in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. Newsom also proposed $5 billion to double rental assistance to get 100% of back rent paid for those who have fallen behind, along with as much as $2 billion in direct payments to pay down utility bills that are overdue. The proposal to deliver $8 billion in new cash payments to millions of Californians is part of a $100-billion economic stimulus plan made possible in part by a budget that has swelled with a significant windfall of tax revenues, a surplus the governor put at $75.7 billion. Gavin Newsom proposed a second round of $600 state stimulus checks on Monday to hasten California’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to expand the payments from low-income residents to also include middle-class families, saying that doing so would benefit two out of three state residents.
