As gas becomes pricey, some states across the United States offer stimulus programs designed to ease residents’ pains at the pump. Such a program, names gas stimulus checks or state rebates, are designed to help people and their families take the rising heat at service stations. One of the most generous of these packages is offering payments up to $3,200.
States sending rebates for gasoline
Alaska: $3,200 payments
Alaska is one of the states offering the biggest gas stimulus checks with $3,200 going out to eligible residents. For most residents, this benefit will be in the form of a yearly payout through Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend program. Due to growing oil costs, the 2022 dividend rose to $3,284 per person.
California: Up to $1,050 rebate
California has announced a Middle-Class Tax Refund of $200 up to $1,050, depending on income and household size. Single taxpayers earning below $75,000 will get $350. Couples filing jointly, earning up to $150,000, will be awarded $700. Eligible households with dependents will add another $350.
Colorado: $750 rebate payments
Colorado is doling out $750 tax rebates for single filers and $1,500 for joint filers. Eligibility for a payment requires a resident of Colorado for the full 2021 tax year; at least 18 years old; and to have filed their 2021 state income tax return by June 30, 2022.
Delaware: $300 rebate payments
Delaware offers a $300 one-time payment to individual taxpayers and $600 for joint filers. It requires that, to be eligible, residents had to have filed their 2020 tax returns by the deadline of May 2022.
Florida: $450 payments
Florida shall provide one-time payments of $450 per child to the families who received TANF benefits in the month of December 2021 or were eligible for the Food Assistance Program as of December 2021.
Other states
Besides the above, several other states have run gas stimulus schemes, but the maximum payout is lower than $3,200. They are as follows :
- Idaho: $75 rebate
- Hawaii : $300 rebate
- New Mexico: $500 rebate
- Georgia: $1,000 rebate for purchasing an e-bike till the June 2024 date
- Pennsylvania: The Property Tax/Rent Rebate; the maximum rebate is $1,000
- Rhode Island: $250 rebate per child; it extends up to three children.
- Virginia: $250 rebate
- Maine: $850 direct relief payments
- New Jersey: Rebate checks of $500
Eligibility and payment details
Variations in the gas stimulus payments across states make them different with respect to eligibility, and generally, the eligibility is pegged to the levels of income, filing status, and residency requirements. Others require that residents have filed their 2020 or 2021 tax returns.
The money will be distributed by direct deposit or paper checks; some states, however, are giving priority to direct deposit to get the funds delivered faster. The first batch of checks in the 2024 stimulus is scheduled to be released by the end of July 2024.
Purpose and impact
These gas stimulus packages would give relief to high gasoline prices in the financial pain of individual and family populations. They seek to empower consumers with more money in order to spend directly, enhancing economic activities.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that these payments may only have limited effects since they are one-time or at best short-term in character, intended to solve a sustained problem. More comprehensive and longer-term measures will be required if the drivers of gas prices—supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions—are to be tackled.
