New coronavirus relief bill includes $600 stimulus checks, $300 in enhanced unemployment benefits

And remember: UI benefits are taxable.The bill also includes $248 billion for another round of Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses, $12 billion of which is earmarked for minority-owned businesses and $15 billion of which will go to live venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions.It also expands PPP eligibility to include nonprofits and local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters.Though another round of direct payments was not part of the original bipartisan draft, pressure from lawmakers including Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) reportedly tipped the scales for their inclusion.The bill includes $600 checks for individual tax payers earning under $75,000 per year and their child dependents, half of the $1,200 payments distributed via the CARES Act. There will not be a cap on the amount that a single household can receive.Hawley said on the Senate floor Sunday night that he was happy the payments are included, but called them "only a step" in the right direction, noting that $600 is just "a fraction of what was offered to working people in the CARES legislation just a few months ago."Though continued unemployment insurance is more helpful in the long term, economists say that checks will get much-needed money into the hands of the financially-strapped more quickly.The bill provides $25 billion in rental relief, which can be used for future rent and utility payments as well as for any back rent owed or utility bills that have not been paid since the beginning of the pandemic.