The governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, announced in 2021 that residents of the state would soon receive $500 COVID-19 recovery checks. The stimulus checks are now in the mail and residents should be getting them soon.
The Office of Administration and Finance stated that around 500,000 stimulus checks are in the mail destined for Bay Staters whose income was low in 2020. All residents eligible for the stimulus checks will receive them, and will not have to request them. The payments should reach them within a week.
The state House and Senate of Massachusetts gave priority to the premium pay for the essential workers under the $4B ARPA plan of the Legislature. It was signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker on December 13 last year.
Stimulus Check Being Paid To Essential Workers In Massachusetts
The stimulus checks are being sent to workers through the Essential Employees Premium Pay Program and the payments are finally on the way. State Senator Patricia Jehlen tweeted that she was glad that the essential service workers who had toiled through the COVID-19 pandemic were finally getting help from the state.
The Massachusetts stimulus check will go out to residents who have filed their income tax returns for 2020 and must be residents of the state in 2020. Part-year residents who were residents of Massachusetts between March 10 and December 31, 2020, are also eligible for the stimulus check.
The residents should have earned $12,750 minimum in employee compensation in 2020. This is equal to working at least 20 hours every week and earning the minimum wage of $12.75 (2020 rates).
To be eligible, residents should also have an overall household income that is at, or less than, 300 percent of the 2020 poverty level set by the federal administration.
Residents who collected the 2020 unemployment check are not eligible in the initial round. But 2019 and 2021 unemployment compensation will not have a bearing on eligibility.
