Even as the year 2023 portends a fresh threat in the form of another COVID-19 variant, people continue to receive stimulus checks from their states. The lack of federal stimulus checks has forced states to intervene to support their residents as they continue to suffer from high prices across products and services.
Most states have sent their relief payments starting the first quarter of 2022. States including Maine and New Mexico were the first of the mark and while most states have opted for a one-off stimulus check, New Mexico has spread out its payment over 4 months.
But states such as California have scheduled their payments for the festive season even though the amount was decided upon and sanctioned by Governor Gavin Newsom way back in June 2022.
The Golden State had initially proposed a pre-loaded gas debit card worth $400 for every vehicle registered in California subject to a maximum of two cards for each family. The cards were to provide relief against gasoline prices that were the highest in America. A combination of factors including delivery and production issues, and the use of extra pure gasoline under Californian laws has led to the prices of gas in the state rising to almost double the national average at one stage.
Even now prices remain almost 50% higher than the national average of around $3 per gallon. Families who did not own vehicles were in line for a transit allowance that would match the value of the gas debit cards. But democratic legislators in California prevailed upon Governor Newsom to change his plans and the Middle-Class Tax Rebate was finally decided upon as part of the annual budget.
California has been buoyed by the pandemic period prosperity recorded by large companies based in California that profited during the pandemic. the Golden State recorded a record $97.5 billion surplus and the state went for a historic $300.6 state budget that included the Middle-Class Tax Rebate.
No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large, the governor said, even as he outlined revisions to the budget that he first proposed at the beginning of 2022 for the state financial month starting in July.
The massive surplus allowed Newsom to spread out cash across the state. Among the proposals by the Governor included the rebate to offset the debilitating effect of inflation on the low and middle-class population which stayed at a record high constant of above 8% the whole of 2022.
Other proposals include retention bonuses of as much as $1,500 for state health care workers, an expansion in the public health care system, particularly for women seeking an abortion, and school funding for pupils that is the highest ever. California also recorded a substantial surplus in 2021 as Gov. Newsom fended off a recall led by the Republican opposition.
However, the governor warned that the budget planners of the state were aware of the potential economic downturn that has deeply affected the American economy. A much deeper crisis was averted by the timely intervention of the federal administration through the American Rescue Plan Act of March 2021.
The funds from the Rescue Plan were allocated to local and state bodies, and businesses allowed them to operate unhindered through the pandemic and immediately afterward. This allowed the local administrations and companies to carry on operating normally and they continued to pay their workers despite a total shutdown for months after the shutdown was lifted.
A little more than half of the surplus would go out to several budgetary reserves and debt repayments. Almost all of the additional spending was devoted to one-off outlays under the plan devised by the governor. It received widespread support from the legislature which supported the notion of inflation relief.
Legislators had also pushed for income-based cash rebates while the governor had proposed to tie the relief to the ownership of vehicles. Ultimately it came down to the Middle-Class Tax Rebate. People were feeling sustained stress and deep anxiety due to the recent gas prices.
Colorado State Stimulus Checks Continue Into 2023
While numerous states continue to issue stimulus checks and tax rebates to their residents, few have been as generous as the Centennial State. and the stimulus checks being given by the state are not linked to the pandemic, or the record inflation assailing Americans for the whole of 2022.
The state is mailing a $750 stimulus check to individuals and double the amount to married couples filing their returns jointly. As Americans continue to face the debilitating economic impact of the pandemic and the record inflation, direct payments have proved to be one of the most impactful ways that the state administration has been able to support families.
Most Colorado Cash Back stimulus checks have already reached the mailboxes of beneficiaries. Eligible taxpayers who have filed their state tax returns or applied for the PTC Rebate (property tax, rent, and heat credit rebate) by June 2022 are in line for the Colorado Cash Back stimulus check.
Residents who filed for an extension on their Colorado state income tax returns for October 17, 2022, had their cash-back payments delayed into the festive season and the payments will drag on till the end of January next year.
The cash-back payments are funded through an amendment to the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) that stipulates that the state government should return any excess revenues that the state has collected.
The TABOR refunds were originally expected to be in the region of $400 but with an exceptionally strong economic performance by the state, the stimulus checks were boosted to the present amount of $750 and $1,500.
While most states have gone for restrictions in payments including payments linked to the Adjusted Gross Income of individuals and families, the Colorado cash back is universal and goes out to all residents with a minimum set of requirements.
The residents should be 18 years and above as of December 31, 2021, and a resident of the state for the whole of 2021. They must also have filed state income tax returns or applied for the PTC Rebate. People who have filed their state income tax return for 2021 but moved out of the state in 2022 are still eligible for the payment.
