OR Democrats revive plan to give low-wage workers checks

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Democrats in the Oregon House have reintroduced a bill that would send one-time, $600 payments to the bank accounts of more than a quarter-million state residents. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports it marks the revival of a proposal Democrats in control of the Legislature floated in the past: providing stimulus checks to essential workers who remained on the job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This iteration of the plan, revealed Tuesday, would focus efforts on around 260,000 people who filed for earned income tax credits — a break for low- and middle-income families — on their 2020 filings. Under the new proposal, as long as they applied for the earned income tax credit on their 2020 state filing, taxpayers would receive a check.