The state is starting to mail $300 checks to some Mainers. Are you eligible?

The state is beginning to mail $300 checks to certain Maine residents. 

These “affordability payments” were a cornerstone of the latest state budget, which officially takes effect Wednesday. 

Full-year Maine residents who file a 2025 Maine individual income tax return by October 15, 2026, are eligible for the one-time payments if they have a federal adjusted gross income of less than $100,000 if filing a joint return, $75,000 if filing as a head of household, or $50,000 if single or married filing separately. People who are able to be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s 2025 individual income tax return are not eligible. 

Gov. Janet Mills proposed the checks in her final budget before she terms out this year, which the Democratic majority in the Legislature agreed to include but at a lesser amount, ultimately settling on a $155.2 million price tag footed by the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund.

The fund, also known as the rainy day fund, has since returned to its statutory maximum of about $1 billion, after the state announced a revenue surplus last week.

Mills had previously refused to touch the fund, which is intended to cover revenue shortfalls, and her decision to draw it down — specifically while she had been campaigning for U.S. Senate — drew sharp criticism from Republicans. Some in her own party also critiqued the choice, particularly given the checks’ limited and short-term impact.

Paper checks are automatically sent to eligible residents using the address on file with the Maine Revenue Service, which is typically the address on a resident’s 2025 state income tax return. 

If an eligible resident’s address changed after filing their return, they need to submit proof of their new address in writing to the agency. If a resident who moved has already submitted a change of address request to the U.S. Postal Service, their payment will automatically be forwarded to the new address.