On Friday Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $227 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and this spending plan contain millions of dollars for stimulus checks and billions more for California schools. He's projecting a $15-billion dollar surplus based on higher than expected revenue from taxes paid by the wealthiest Californians.
The plan also includes two-billion dollars to safely reopen California schools.
As he suggested earlier this week, Newsom is proposing $600 in COVID relief funding for Californians making less than $30,000 per year. He is aiming to get checks sent out within three weeks of a signed budget.
The budget also includes relief for small businesses in the form of fee waivers for their annual license renewals. A recent National Federation of Independent Business study found that if economic conditions don't improve within the next few months, one out of every four small business would be forced to close their doors. The NFIB says Newsom's budget is a "step in the right direction" for small businesses.