Currency: Ending the Penny and Rounding Cash Payments
A senate committee must act next: committee consideration.
While the bill has support from both parties, similar efforts to cut the penny have failed for years because of industry lobbying and public habit.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Cash-handling businesses like retailers and restaurants would need to update point-of-sale systems and train staff to round cash totals to the nearest nickel, since the bill requires 'any person selling goods or services in a cash transaction' to follow the new rounding rules. Over time this could reduce the hassle and cost of stocking and handling pennies, but the one-year transition creates a short-term compliance burden.
“any person selling goods or services in a cash transaction, entering into any other transaction that results in a payment or transfer of cash between the parties to the transaction, or paying cash wages to an employee as compensation shall round the payment in the following manner”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
The House passed the Common Cents Act to create national rounding guidelines for cash transactions. While the National Restaurant Association supports the legal certainty, it notes rounding down could cost the industry $168 million annually as the penny is phased out.
Following the House passage of the Common Cents Act, consumers are preparing for a 'penniless' economy. The bill outlines a 5-cent rounding system for cash: totals ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents round down, while 3, 4, 8, or 9 round up. Electronic payments remain unaffected.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Common Cents Act
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