Gavin Newsom signs California budget bill authorizing $600 stimulus payments

California residents making less than $75,000 can officially expect new $600 stimulus payments as part of a package of budget bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed late Monday.

Newsom celebrated the bill signings at a Tuesday afternoon rally in Los Angeles with political allies in government and the labor movement, where speakers took a political tone, framing the budget as a reason to keep Newsom in office. Newsom, a Democrat, faces a recall election in September.

“I’m proud to say that Los Angeles County will anchor the no on the recall. We will be the biggest vote in the entire state,” Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera said. “Now that our state roars back to a path of recovery, it’s encouraging to see a budget that prioritizes workers and helps put food on their tables, clothes on their back, and a roof over their heads.

Newsom touted the budget’s record spending on education, homelessness and reserves. He joked he could talk for hours about all the major policies funded by the $262 billion budget, and emphasized that much of the spending, particularly the individual stimulus payments, are designed to help regular California residents.

“This is one hell of a budget signing,” Newsom exclaimed, looking around the supporters gathered behind him. “We are doing things we only dreamt of and we’re getting them done this year... I hope folks will take time to look at this budget, because we have you in mind.”

The measures he signed Monday ahead of a midnight deadline reflected agreement with top lawmakers on most aspects of the budget.

Under the legislation, Californians who make between $30,000 and $75,000 will receive $600 stimulus payments this year. It also sends $500 to families with children, and $1,000 to undocumented families with children, who were largely left out of federal stimulus payments. Newsom and lawmakers had already approved $600 state stimulus payments for people making less than $30,000 earlier this year.

Newsom and lawmakers will continue to negotiate some budget details, including on transportation infrastructure, but Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, touted the agreement they’ve reached so far in a joint statement.

“This budget represents the largest recovery plan in the nation – a plan that will not only sustain California’s recovery, but accelerate it by providing immediate relief to those that need it most and tackling some of California’s most persistent and stubborn challenges,” they wrote. “This budget represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine what California’s future can look like.

Newsom signed the main budget legislation later than in recent years, a full 12 days after California’s 2021-22 fiscal year started on July 1. Despite not having a deal ready for the start of the budget year, lawmakers and Newsom managed to technically meet deadlines laid out in state law by enacting holdover budget legislation even as negotiations continued.

The budget includes $196 billion in general fund spending and relies on an estimated $80 billion surplus. It also puts more than $25 billion into reserves, including $15 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

The agreement Newsom signed Monday includes money to increase pay for child care providers subsidized by the state and to add additional slots for low-income families to enroll their children. It also includes agreement on how the state will improve broadband infrastructure to bring reliable internet access to more Californians. Those provisions will be enacted through a series of budget bills lawmakers plan to vote on later this week.

Newsom and lawmakers had already agreed to much of the plan in recent weeks, including expanding state-funded health care to more undocumented immigrants, adding a new grade to California public schools called transitional kindergarten and spending $1.5 billion on grants to help small businesses that have struggled during the pandemic.

This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 11:34 PM.