Newsom seeks $600 payments for the poor

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced he wants $600 aid payments for low-income California residents, adding to stimulus payments issued by the government in early January.

The proposal, called “the Golden State Stimulus,” were included in Newsom’s proposed state budget released on Friday.

If approved by state lawmakers, it would provide a $600 payment to California residents who qualify for the state Earned Income Tax Credit on their 2019 tax returns. Generally, California tax filers who earn less than $30,000 a year are eligible for that credit; last year, 3.9 million California returns applied for it.

Newsom also proposed extending the state’s eviction moratorium, which expires on Jan. 31.

“Through the Golden State Stimulus, Californians who have been impacted by this pandemic will get help to provide for their families and keep a roof over their heads,” Newsom said in a statement. “This plan will provide relief for Californians in need by distributing $600 rapid cash support — for some, at least $1,200 when coupled with federal relief — and extend the eviction moratorium.”

Newsom estimated the stimulus program would cost the state $2.4 billion. In November, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated the state budget would see a one-time $26 billion surplus in 2021 because tax revenues have come in higher than expected during the pandemic. That’s largely because high-income earners have done well in the rising stock market, and have been able to continue working during the pandemic. — Paul Rogers

Jobless claims dip

Jobless claims filed by California workers dropped a scant amount in early January, but the statewide totals still accounted for 1 out of every 5 filed in the United States, a report released Thursday shows.

An estimated 160,000 California workers filed initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week that ended Jan. 2, down 8,700 from the 168,700 who filed such claims during the week ending Dec. 26, the U.S. Labor Department reported. California’s jobless claims represent 20.3% of the jobless claims filed in the entire nation for the week that ended Jan. 2.

Jobless claims in the United States totaled 787,000, a small decrease from the 790,000 initial unemployment claims that were filed the prior week, according to the Labor Department.

Adding to jobless woes is the backlog of claimants who are waiting to receive benefits.

As of Dec. 30, the California jobless claims bottleneck was at 777,800 — an increase of 44% from the lows in early November, an analysis of the Employment Development Department backboards shows.

The state’s embattled labor agency also said it has suspended payments for well over 1 million claims in response to widening fraud woes.

The EDD has begun to notify people that their unemployment payments were suspended because of suspicions their accounts were linked to fraudulent activity.

The state agency began to more closely scrutinize unemployment claims toward the end of 2020 and ahead of the start of extensions of unemployment benefits paid by the federal government.

Of the 3.5 million, an estimated 1.9 million had already been disqualified by the EDD for unspecified reasons, according to the state agency.

“Payment was suspended on 1.4 million claims,” the EDD said.

The EDD said it was moving quickly to attempt to reach the workers associated with the 1.4 million claims that were suspended. — George Avalos