Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse speaks at the Johnston Senior Center about the one-time payment Social Security recipients will receive in May.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

Q: When will the $250 stimulus check be sent?

— R.A., Providence

A: The Social Security Administration will distribute the one-time, $250 payments next month, said U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

There are no forms to fill out, no steps to take; you’ll receive your payment automatically, assuming you’re eligible, Whitehouse said at a meeting at the Johnston Senior Center last week. “You don’t have to do anything,” he said.

The payments — sometimes called rebates, economic recovery payments or economic stimulus payments — are the result of the legislation approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama Feb. 17.

They’ll be distributed throughout next month, so if you don’t get yours right away, “Don’t be confused and don’t be discouraged,” Whitehouse said.

Preliminary figures from the Social Security Administration suggest that the payments will be made to about 180,000 adult Rhode Islanders who collect some type of Social Security benefit, such as retirement, survivor or disability benefits.

One-time payments will also be made to about 19,000 Rhode Islanders who receive benefits through the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Overall, then, about 198,500 Rhode Islanders should receive a total of about $50 million in one-time payments of $250 apiece next month — on top of the regular Social Security or SSI benefits they are already scheduled to receive in May.

The idea is to get money into the hands of those who really need it, and who will likely spend it to help boost the economy, Whitehouse said.

The Social Security Administration began mailing notices to beneficiaries last week, and the process will continue this week, said Kurt Czarnowski, the agency’s New England regional communications director. (Payments will be distributed weekly, starting the first week of May, he said.)

Among the points contained in the notices:

•If you’re married and each spouse receives Social Security, each spouse will receive a one-time, $250 economic stimulus payment.

•If you receive both Social Security and SSI benefits, you’ll get only one $250 payment.

•You’ll receive your rebate separately from your regular Social Security or SSI benefit. But you’ll receive it in the same manner in which you receive your regular benefits. (For instance, if you receive your Social Security or SSI benefits by direct deposit, you’ll get your $250 payment by direct deposit.)

More information is available online at:

www.socialsecurity.gov/payment

Also keep in mind that people who receive veterans benefits or Railroad Retirement benefits are also eligible for rebates.

In general, you’re eligible for a rebate only if you received Social Security, SSI, veterans or Railroad Retirement benefits in November 2008, December 2008, or January 2009. (Please see “Today’s Tip” for some details.)

Q: Retired schoolteachers who do not receive Social Security payments, will they be eligible for the economic recovery payment?

— M.M., North Scituate

A: No, but they’ll get something similar early next year.

Katherine Lisi of Johnston, who attended last week’s meeting, raised the same point.

She said she’s a retired schoolteacher who receives a state pension and no Social Security. She wanted to know whether she’ll receive a one-time stimulus payment.

The answer is that she won’t receive a payment this year.

But the new law provides for a related one-time federal income tax credit, which will appear on federal income tax forms early next year, for the 2009 tax year.

The credit is $250 for someone who’s single, $500 for a married couple filing a joint return.

A congressional conference committee report says that the credit is for “individuals who receive a government pension or annuity from work not covered by Social Security, and were not eligible to receive” one of the rebates mentioned above.

Another section of the report says that the credit is for anyone “who receives an amount as a pension or annuity for service performed in the employ of the United States or any State or any instrumentality thereof, which is not considered employment for purposes of Social Security taxes” and who doesn’t receive a rebate described above.

(More details about the credit will appear on federal tax forms and instructions early next year.)

TODAY’S TIP: The Railroad Retirement Board plans to make the one-time payments to its beneficiaries in late May, so everyone who’s eligible should receive one no later than the first week in June.

Beneficiaries of the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs are tentatively scheduled to receive their one-time, $250 rebates in June, according to agency spokesman Jim Benson.

Keep in mind that you’re eligible for only one payment. So if you receive a payment from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board in May, for example, you won’t also receive one from the Department of Veterans Affairs in June.

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