As high inflation saddles Americans with an extra financial burden, some states are helping out with one-time stimulus check rebates to offset the pain of higher prices.
The Labor Department reported earlier this month that the consumer price index rose 9.1% in June from a year ago, marking the fastest pace of inflation since November 1981. The CPI is a broad measure of the price for everyday goods, including gasoline, groceries, and rent.
Scorching-hot inflation has created severe financial pressures on most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more everyday necessities like food, gasoline, and rent. The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily impacted by price fluctuations.
States That Are Providing These Stimulus Checks
Here’s a closer look at which states are providing households with stimulus checks, tax rebates and who’s eligible for the money.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, approved a state budget that includes inflation relief checks as high as $1,050 for a married couple with at least one dependent. The payments — which are coming out of California’s $97 billion budget surplus — will be sent either as direct deposits or debit cards by 2023.
The first payments are slated to go out in October.
The payments are tapered for higher earners.
The money is technically a tax refund that will spend roughly $9.5 billion back to state residents.
Residents who filed their 2021 tax return by June 30 will receive a check for $750 by September. Joint filers will receive up to $1,500.
Filers who received an extension and filed by the Oct. 17 deadline will receive the tax refund by the end of January.
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed the refund bill in late May.
Delaware residents who had filed a 2020 state tax return received a one-time stimulus check payment of $300 earlier this year. Couples filing jointly received $300 apiece. The relief was intended to help Delawareans facing higher prices at the grocery store and gas pump.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced last week that his administration is sending checks worth up to $450 per child to lower-income families. An estimated 59,000 families will qualify for the money.
