Fourth Stimulus Check Update: More Payments Likely For California In 2022

Residents of the state of California could get more stimulus payments next year, according to a new forecast.

A forecast by the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office said the Golden State is on track to have at least a $31 billion surplus in the next budget year beginning July 1, 2022.

This means the state could exceed its constitutional limit by $26 billion over three years. This would require Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., and state lawmakers to cut taxes or spend more money, including giving more stimulus payments to taxpayers.

“We think it will … turn out to be a pretty significant issue for the Legislature to consider in this coming budget process,” Legislative Analyst Gabe Petek told KTLA 5.

Gov. Newsom isn’t expected to reveal his 2022-2023 budget proposal until January next year. But on Wednesday, he indicated his support for more direct payments during a news conference at the Port of Long Beach.

“How we framed that historic surplus last year, similarly, we will frame our approach this year. I’m very proud of the historic tax rebate last year, and I look forward to making the decision that I think is in the best interests of 40 million Californians,” Newsom said.

For the 2021 budget year, the California government sent out one-time stimulus checks worth between $500 and $1,100 for million of taxpayers under the Golden State Stimulus program.

As of Thursday, the California Franchise Tax Board — the agency that oversees the distribution of the payments — has sent out approximately 6.5 million checks, with at least 750,000 paper checks sent out Monday.

The latest batch of Golden State Stimulus II payments is scheduled to arrive between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31. The agency selects the recipients based on their 2020 tax returns, the filing of which ended on Oct. 15.

Households earning between $1 and $75,000 and have resided in California for more than half of the 2020 tax year are eligible to receive the payments. People without a Social Security Number (SSN) but have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) may also be eligible to receive the payments.

The Tax Board is expecting to send out a total of 9 million payments under the Golden State Stimulus II program.

News of a possible round of checks for Californians come as calls for a fourth round of stimulus checks nationwide continue to grow. However, the White House and Congress have yet to indicate any plans of approving and adding more payment to President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan.