Some Massachusetts residents have started to receive a $500 stimulus payment following the implementation of the Essential Employee Premium Pay Program, which was signed into law in December 2021.
Per CBS Boston, around 500,000 low-income workers in Massachusetts will benefit from the first rollout of this income boost, especially if they have continued working in person amid the COVID-19 stay-at-home lockdown orders. The distributions started on March 31, 2022, and residents could soon find the checks in their mailbox.
The stimulus payment distribution is just half of the state's $460-million fund under Massachusetts' American Rescue Plan Act program. This means that there will be another rollout for the second half, but lawmakers have yet to determine the date.
Eligibility of the $500 Stimulus Payment Distribution
According to WBZ News Radio, Baker's administration will base the eligibility requirement on the information from the residents' 2020 tax returns, as this is the fastest way to assess who has been working in person since the first wave of the pandemic. The employees who will qualify must have at least $12,750 in income, or the equivalent of working for 20 hours a week for 50 weeks in 2020, which puts them below 300 percent of the poverty level in the U.S.
Distribution of the first round of $500 payments for low-income workers under the COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program is finally happening! I am glad that these essential workers who worked through the pandemic are getting a little help! pic.twitter.com/oXv4eVAnOf
— Senator Pat Jehlen (@senjehlen) March 25, 2022
Eligible residents must also be a resident of Massachusetts in 2020 or at least lived in the state from March to December 2020. However, residents who collected unemployment payments during this period are not eligible to get the payment boost in this first round of distribution.
All eligible Massachusetts residents should expect the stimulus check in the mail. It will not be deposited to their designated bank accounts in their tax profiles. There is also no need to apply or act on this benefit, as all the residents have to do is wait for the check.
"If you do not receive a check, you may be eligible for a future round of premium payments," the governor said. The next round will be based on the 2021 tax returns and other qualifications that will be additionally factored in. State officials believed that more stimulus checks might be distributed in the future.
The COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program
Massachusetts' COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program recognizes the impact of the pandemic on families, workers, communities, and businesses in the last two years. Baker said that he signed the proposal into law to fast-track the state's economic recovery and secure "long-lasting" benefits for small businesses, healthcare, and education.
Baker has supported the proposal since lawmakers first introduced it as he wants the state to deliver premium pay and "get the dollars out the door" to the locals. In signing the law, the governor also vetoed the bill proposing a commission consultation with the Behavioral Health Trust Fund and Advisory Committee before the stimulus checks are distributed to do away with the red tape in the government, per NBC Boston.
