California lawmakers approve $600 stimulus checks for low-income residents

California’s legislature on Monday approved a $7.6 billion coronavirus relief package that will include $600 stimulus checks for low-income residents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who helped craft the bill, has said he plans on signing the legislation. 

The stimulus checks will go to Californians making $30,000 a year or less.

The package also includes more than  $2 billion in grants for small businesses, $30 million for food banks and $5 million for diaper banks. It will also cancel about $25.6 million in fees for restaurants and hair salons. 

“500,000 dead, countless lives disrupted, so many dreams delayed. The relief that will be provided by the emergency stimulus package will ensure Californians & small businesses hit hard by the pandemic aren’t left behind. I’m proud we passed these immediate actions today,” California Senate Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D) said after the bill’s passage.

500,000 dead, countless lives disrupted, so many dreams delayed. The relief that will be provided by the emergency stimulus package will ensure Californians & small businesses hit hard by the pandemic aren’t left behind. I’m proud we passed these immediate actions today. pic.twitter.com/buAk3TOobJ

— Senator Toni Atkins (@SenToniAtkins) February 23, 2021

The relief will be delivered as coronavirus cases decline in California but remain at high levels. There have been more than 3.4 million infections in the Golden State since the pandemic began and 4,665 were detected Monday alone, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

The state relief bill’s passage comes as Democrats in Congress push a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that would give $1,400 stimulus checks to Americans making less than $75,000 a year.