California law will send $600 direct payments to low-income residents

California’s governor signed a bill into law Tuesday evening that will provide direct payments of $600 to many of the state’s lowest-income residents, including undocumented immigrants.

Newsom announced his signature on Twitter, telling Californians that checks would be “in the pockets” of state residents and small businesses soon.

Today we took action to provide CA families & businesses urgent relief from the #COVID19 recession. Our package of immediate actions includes $7.6B:
✅relief for small biz
✅direct cash support to individuals & households
✅child care
✅community college financial aid
& more pic.twitter.com/JwoaC7ReD6

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) February 23, 2021

California’s legislature passed the stimulus plan on Monday, with the state Senate president pro tempore arguing that the relief provided by the package would “ensure Californians & small businesses hit hard by the pandemic aren’t left behind” in a statement released through Twitter.

The plan provides direct income payments to state residents making $30,000 or less who claimed the California Earned Income Tax Credit last year, as well as state residents who have an individual taxpayer identification number instead of a Social Security number and make less than $75,000 per year. This latter group mostly includes undocumented immigrants who were ineligible for Congress’s two rounds of federal stimulus checks.

Democrats in Congress are currently debating the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes provisions such as an extension to unemployment benefits and a round of direct payments totaling $1,400 for individuals.