PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–Nearly 60,000 Florida families will be receiving stimulus checks to help cover back-to-school expenses for their children, but the checks are causing controversy with other Floridians.
July 25 is the start of the annual back-to-school tax holiday season, when school-related items such as clothes, shoes, and even computers can be purchased tax-free. Foster Parents, relative and nonrelative caregivers and any family receiving The Florida Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) cash assistance are eligible to receive a one-time payment of $450 per child to help offset costs for the coming school year.
The money for the stimulus checks is coming from the American Rescue Plan Act where Florida received $35.5 million from the federal government for pandemic relief. Representatives from the governor’s office said the money would be better spent to help families struggling during the 40-year-high inflation instead of being returned to the government where it would be “wasted.”…