Many Americans are starting to feel the pinch of high grocery store and gas prices. But fortunately, financial relief may be on its way for some. 

Residents of Maine are in line for a financial relief check in June, now that Gov. Mills has signed and approved a $1.2 billion budget into law. The bill includes funding for eligible individuals in the state. Individuals can get checks worth $850, and households can get $1,700 in relief payments. The checks will be mailed to around 858,000 people in the state. 

Financial relief coming for residents of Maine

Some of the key details to know about this relief measure are:

  • Eligibility is based on filing an individual income tax return for 2021 by October 31, 2022. The person filing the return must be a full-time resident of Maine. 
  • Those who are eligible are required to have a federal adjusted gross income of under $100,000 if filing as a single person or if married and filing separately. Those filing as the head of a household must have an income of less than $150,000, and couples filing jointly must make under $200,000. 

Funds to be issued from state surplus

Unlike most other stimulus programs, including those that were issued at a federal level, the funding for this round of relief is coming out of a state surplus. These relief check payments will be returning half of the state’s budget surplus, which is $729.3 million, to “an estimated 858,000 Maine people grappling with the increased costs as a result of pandemic-driven inflation.” When Gov. Mills made this proposal, she got near-unanimous approval from Maine’s legislature. 

Stimulus check update

But this relief check isn’t the only stimulus that is being offered to residents of Maine. A website that was set up by the Mills administration states, “The Mills Administration is encouraging Maine people to carefully examine their eligibility for up to $1,400 in additional tax relief available per person this filing season, thanks to laws already enacted by Governor Mills and the Legislature specifically aimed at supporting low- and middle-income Maine families. Learn more about the Homestead Exemption Program, and consider claiming the State Property Tax Fairness Credit, the Maine Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Sales Tax Fairness Credit.”

At the national level, sources have reported that President Biden is also considering a new kind of financial relief measure.