Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The payments are in addition to - and will be distributed separately from - the regular monthly sums that beneficiaries normally receive from Social Security or SSI.

Payments will be staggered throughout the month; the first batch will start arriving today, by mail and by direct deposit, Czarnowski said.

Someone who normally receives a Social Security or SSI benefit by check will receive the $250 payment by check; those who normally receive benefits by direct deposit will receive the $250 payment by direct deposit, too.

The payments are the result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama Feb. 17.

In general, the law requires the government to disburse one-time "economic recovery payments" - of $250 apiece - to adults who receive some type of Social Security or SSI benefit.

The payments may not represent a bonanza for some beneficiaries, said Kathleen S. Connell, state director of AARP Rhode Island, a membership organization for people 50 and older.

But to many, especially the "considerable number" for whom Social Security benefits represent the sole source of income, "It's certainly going to be welcome relief,'' Connell said today.

The idea behind the payments is to get money into the hands of those who really need it -- and who will likely spend it to help boost the economy, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told a group of seniors in Johnston at a meeting last month.

The distribution could serve to boost Rhode Island's economy, said Leonard Lardaro, professor of economics at the University of Rhode Island. "At a time like this, where people have been really hit hard by a lot of things . . . it's going to help," Lardaro said today.

The payments should also have a psychological impact, helping to make people feel better about the economy, he said.

Various factors, including the stimulus payments, are starting to come together, and consumer confidence is slowly starting to recover, he said. "A lot of things are going in the right direction, but they take time,'' said Lardaro. (He predicted that the recession in Rhode Island will bottom out in the first three months of next year "if things go well.")

The Social Security Administration has not made public the schedule for distributions of the one-time payments. Czarnowski said only that a portion of the payments will start tomorrow; others will be distributed later this month.

However, if disbursement follows Social Security's normal distribution schedule for regular benefits, about 57 percent of beneficiaries can expect to receive their one-time payments tomorrow or later this week, about 14 percent late next week, another 14 percent late the following week, and about 14 percent late in the last week of May.

Based on that estimate, about 117,000 Rhode Islanders should receive a total of about $29 million in economic recovery payments - sometimes called rebates - by Saturday.

The payments will be made automatically; there are no forms to fill out, no steps to take, Whitehouse said. "You don't have to do anything," he said.

Social Security or SSI beneficiaries who do not receive their one-time payments soon should wait until all of the payments are distributed before making inquiries, Czarnowski said. Beneficiaries who do not receive payments by June 4 should call the Social Security Administration at that point, he said.

Some beneficiaries will receive a reduced payment - or none at all - if they are delinquent on taxes, child support payments or federally backed student loans, according to the provisions of the new law.

People who receive Railroad Retirement benefits, and those who receive certain benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, can expect to receive their one-time payments of $250 apiece by early June.

Overall, the U.S. Treasury will distribute about $14 billion of the payments nationwide, according to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation.

The Social Security Administration Web site has a section focused exclusively on the one-time payments.