$285 surprise stimulus check in November: who is getting extra money?

While the chances of a fourth stimulus in all US states is next to none, there has been an announcement of extra support for residents in the New England state of Maine.

524,754 people could get a surprise check in the mail sometime after November 15 as the Maine State Tax Accessor will be issuing $285 checks to taxpayers. People with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $150,000 for married couples filing jointly, $112,000 for heads of household or $75,000 for individuals, are eligible to receive the checks.

“The hardworking men and women who kept our state running through the pandemic deserve our appreciation,” said Governor Janet Mills. “As a result of the bipartisan budget passed by the Legislature and signed by me, my Administration will send one-time payments of $285 to more than half a million working Maine people. I hope this will help Maine families to some small degree during the holiday season as we work to fully recover our economy.”

However, not everyone who earns less than these values are eligible. You must have worked continuously in 2020 throughout the pandemic, and people classed as dependents are not eligible. Think of them as closer to hazard payments that other states have been issuing, such as Florida, rather than a universal stimulus. The southern state has given teachers an extra payment as a thank you for working through covid-19. Florida is also offering money to first responders through the Florida Heroes Initiative.

The state will be issuing 5,000 to 25,000 checks daily over the next six weeks, and a $149.8 million budget was set aside for these payments.

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What other states are doing their own checks?

California is one of the few states that have started their own true stimulus checks. Now on their second edition, Golden State Stimulus II, residents can receive a $600 payment if they are making less than $75,000 a year. In February, the governor signed a law that allowed for the sending of $600 checks to low-income individuals and non-citizens who were unable to receive federal stimulus checks.

A media liaison at the tax agency told the Orange County Register that the state has sent out 5.7 million payments so far. Those payments represent around $4.1 billion of the $12 billion slated for the scheme that Governor Newsom touted as “the largest state tax rebate in American history.” With checks going to roughly two thirds of households in the state, or around 15.2 million taxpayers, there are still approximately 8.7 million payments to go.