Certain residents within Massachusetts are set to receive a round of stimulus checks from the state. The $500 checks are part of the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program.

For the second time this year, the state will be delivering $500 checks - this time to more than 300,000 eligible residents. The Baker Administration is using federal American Rescue Plan money to acknowledge certain workers who still went to work every day amid the pandemic.

“It’s a way to help these people with a relatively modest amount of $500, but it’s something to recognize their service,” said AIC Economics Professor John Rogers. Full story is available on Western Mass News.