Overview
- The Senate passed the Common Cents Act by unanimous consent on Friday, advancing congressional action to formally stop minting pennies for general circulation.
- The House previously approved its version of the bill on July 14, so identical language must still clear both chambers before the measure can reach the president and become law.
- The bill authorizes discretionary, cash-only rounding rules that let retailers round totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents down and totals ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents up to the nearest five cents.
- It would give the Treasury authority to test cheaper nickel compositions to reduce minting losses and direct the Federal Reserve to limit coin-supply disruptions.
- Until matching federal law is enacted, roughly 20 states have different penny rules and retailers face penny shortages plus unresolved operational questions about SNAP, mixed-tender sales and cross-jurisdiction compliance.