coronavirus in connecticut

‘Hero Pay' Money to Begin Going Out Wednesday; Here's How Much You'll Get

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The state’s “Hero Pay” payments are expected to begin going out Wednesday.

Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the payments will begin going out on Wednesday, Feb. 1. On Tuesday, Scanlon said the payments were expedited and will go out over the course of two weeks for people who are getting direct deposit.

"Hero Pay" or the Premium Pay program is meant to provide a bonus of up to $1,000 to some essential workers who were employed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you were approved for "hero pay," here's how much you'll receive:

Under $50,000$1,000
$50,000 < $60,000 $800
$60,000 < $70,000$750
$70,000 < $80,000$500
$80,000 < $90,000$250
$90,000 < $100,000$200
$100,000 < $150,000$100
Part-time$200
Information courtesy of the Office of the State Comptroller.

The state comptroller originally said the payments would be sent out in batches of 20,000 per week and go first to the direct deposit accounts of 150,000 Connecticut workers who qualified for the program, Scanlon said.

Around 120,000 of the people eligible to receive the pay opted for direct deposit. The other 35,000 chose to receive checks, officials said. The checks will go out in the middle of March.

"One hundred and fifty thousand people in this state are going to see that check faster than I announced last week," Scanlon said Tuesday.

Scanlon said the payments will be processed in the order that people applied.

The application period closed Oct. 1, 2022.

To be eligible, workers must have:

  • Worked as an essential worker in Connecticut for the entirety of the time period between March 10, 2020, and May 7, 2022.
  • Not able to work from home.
  • Worked in a job categorized by the CDC as 1A or 1B.
  • Worked in the private sector.
  • Earned $149,999 or less.

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