This week not only marks the arrival of the first child tax credit payments from the federal government. Californians, most of them, anyway, will get another added benefit.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week highlighted the “immediate relief” that will flow to people in that state under what’s known as the “Golden State Stimulus.”

Newsom has signed the $100 million “California Comeback Plan,” which has expanded the aid, originally geared towards the poor, to the middle class. This brought the total of payments to Californians to $12 billion, which California touts as the largest state tax rebate in American history. Ultimately, about two-thirds of Californians will receive payments under the plan. 

Per the San Francisco Chronicle, in what’s known as “Golden State Stimulus II,” “qualifying individuals with incomes between $30,000 to $75,000 will receive a $600 stimulus check and qualifying families with kids, including undocumented families, will get an additional $500.” 

Payments will begin in September. Most of those who will receive checks do not need to do anything to receive them. Californians can still qualify for the Golden State Stimulus if they file their taxes by October 15.

“California is roaring back from this pandemic because we have your back,” said Governor Newsom. “It’s in that spirit that we’ve used California’s historic surplus to make historic investments. In partnership with the Legislature, we’re providing direct relief to struggling families and money into the pockets of small business owners across the state. Your incredible resilience and perseverance have brought our state to this moment, and California is committed to making you the foundation of our recovery.”

How is California paying for all of this? The state ended 2020 with a $76 billion budget surplus. 

Newsom, meanwhile, is facing a recall effort, with the election set for September 14. According to CNN, Newsom was recently denied a request to be listed as a Democrat on the recall ballot, after the governor’s attorneys appear to have forgotten to mark his party affiliation last year. 

Candidates in the recall include Olympian-turned-reality-star Caitlyn Jenner, radio talk show host Larry Elder, 2018 Republican gubernatorial nominee John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and a couple of dozen others. 

"It is what it is. This is a Republican recall," Newsom said in an interview with CNN earlier this year. "An RNC-backed Republican recall of White supremacists, anti-Semites and people who are opposed to immigration and immigrants is an accurate assessment of who's behind this recall.”

In 2003, through a similar process, California recalled Gov. Gray Davis, replacing him with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went on to serve as governor through 2011. 

 Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.