By KENNEDY GRIFFIN
(Boston, MA) Last Wednesday the Baker-Polito Administration announced the first round of $500 premium payments as part of the COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Program. The checks will be automatically mailed to eligible Massachusetts residents this week based on 2020 tax returns. Residents are eligible for the $500 checks if they made more than $12,750 but less than three times the federal poverty level, if they did not receive unemployment, and if they did not receive a one-time payment as a Commonwealth executive branch employee during 2020.