Recovery Refunds & Reconvening Session

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Get Your Refund Resources

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new video on how to receive your economic recovery check if you did not file for income tax. You can view the video here.

Those who filed 2018 or 2019 taxes with a Social Security number or receive Social Security benefits are eligible for an economic recovery check. If you did not file your taxes because you did not have income, you can still file a simple return through July 15 and be eligible to receive a payment in most cases. The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department launched a new online application that allows workers who did not file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return to provide the information required to receive their Economic Impact Payment.

If you are an eligible non-filer looking to submit your form, or if you have already filed your taxes but do not know where your refund check is, you can visit the IRS website to get those things taken care of: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments. If you need help filing your taxes for this year or past years in order to receive your rebate, you can get free help here: https://www.getyourrefund.org/.

Partners, we’re counting on you to help us spread the word about the availability of these rebates so we can make sure they reach as many people as possible.

New Resources from GBPI

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute has released several COVID-19 resources. Two recent resources include Fast Facts on Medicaid Expansion, which details the benefits of Georgia expanding Medicaid, and State of Working Georgia Before and During Covid-19, which discusses highlights data that shows racial, ethnic and gender disparities becoming more pronounced due to this crisis. In order to truly recover from the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic decline, Georgia leaders must take stock of the inequities that exist for women and people of color in our state and set our sights on building an economy where all of our people can prosper.

Sign Cover Georgia’s petition to expand Medicaid here.

Other resources can be found here: https://gbpi.org/covid-19-georgia/

New Article from Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity

Gia Jones, advocate and writer, and Ife Floyd, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, urged Congress to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit to help mitigate COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black maternal and infant health. In their newest commentary in Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity they discuss how more financial help, like an EITC, can change the lives of parents and their children for the better.

Legislative Session Likely to Reconvene in June

The COVID-19 pandemic began while Georgia’s Legislature was still in session; they paused just after Crossover Day. There is no set date to return yet, but several lawmakers seem to favor a June 11 return. By law a state budget must be passed by July 1, when the new fiscal year goes into effect.