Oregon is sending $600 checks to low-income workers. More than 236,000 Oregon families will each receive a $600 payment under a new state law that aimed to aid low-income workers. The one-time payments come as inflation is at a 40-year high. In May, state economists reported that 80% of Oregon workers now earn less, adjusted for inflation, than they did pre-pandemic.
Paper checks or direct deposits are going to people who lived in Oregon for the last six months of 2020 and claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax break for low-income workers, on their 2020 taxes. The state’s payments to low-income workers follow three federal stimulus payments totaling $3,200, plus additional payments for dependents, during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and early 2021.
Data has been put out that single people who claimed the credit earned less than $16,000, while married couples with three or more children earned less than $57,000. More than 136,000 Oregon taxpayers will see $600 deposited in their bank accounts before July 1, while more than 99,000 more will find paper checks in their mailboxes over the next week. They’ll also receive letters explaining the payment.
It is reported that almost $142 million will go to low-income households. Lawmakers who supported the program said it will allow those Oregonians to pay for necessities.
Some of the lower income residents in the rural areas of eastern and southern Oregon will benefit from the payments. Statewide, one out of six taxpayers qualified for the credit, according to the Oregon Department of Revenue. Malheur County has the highest rate, at 23%, and Washington the lowest, at 9%.
