H.R. 10167
Common Cents Act
Sponsor: Lisa C. McClain
1 cosponsor
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Common Cents Act
This bill ends the production of the penny for general circulation, requires rounding to an amount divisible by five for the payment or transfer of cash, and allows the nickel to be composed of different material.
The Department of the Treasury must stop producing the penny, except to meet collector needs. The penny shall continue to be legal tender.
Any person selling goods or services in a cash transaction, entering into other transfers of cash, or paying cash wages to an employee must round the payment up or down in accordance with the bill.
The bill also allows Treasury to discontinue the minting for circulation of any coin if Treasury follows procedures as outlined by the bill, including providing notice and a briefing to Congress.
The Federal Reserve Board must periodically report on a strategic plan for the acceptance of penny orders and deposits at commercial coin terminals that provide services under agreements with Federal Reserve banks.
Finally, the bill allows for a different material composition of the nickel. In addition to being made from an alloy of copper and nickel, the nickel may also be clad with an inner core of zinc and an outer layer of nickel.
Text of the bill
(a) In general. Any person, including a financial institution, selling goods or services in a cash transaction or entering into any other transaction that results in a payment or transfer of cash between the parties to the transaction may, if exact change cannot be provided at that time of such transaction, round the covered amount in the following manner:
(1) Rounding down. Except as provided in paragraph (2)(B), in any case in which the covered amount ends with 1 cent, 2 cents, 6 cents, or 7 cents as the final digit, the amount of cents in the sum may be rounded down to the nearest amount divisible by 5 for any person seeking to make payment with cash.
(2) Rounding up
(A) In general. In any case in which the covered amount ends with 3 cents, 4 cents, 8 cents, or 9 cents as the final digit, the amount of cents in the sum may be rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 5 for any person seeking to make payment with cash.
(B) Small transactions. In any case in which the covered amount totals $0.01 or $0.02, such amount may be rounded up to $.05 for any person seeking to make payment with cash.
(b) Additional authority To round. With respect to a person, including a financial institution, conducting a cash transaction with a customer of the person, the amount of cents in the sum of the transaction may be rounded, if such rounding is in favor of the customer, as follows:
(1) Up to the nearest amount divisible by 5, if the person is paying the customer in cash.
(2) Down to the nearest amount divisible by 5, if the customer is paying the person in cash.
(c) Employer payments to employees
(1) In general. With respect to an employer providing a cash payment to an employee in an amount that is not divisible by 5 cents, if the employer chooses to round the amount of cents in such payment, the employer shall round the amount of cents in such payment up to the nearest amount divisible by 5 cents.
(2) No rounding requirement. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to require rounding by an employer described in paragraph (1) who provides a cash payment to an employee in an exact amount.
(d) Application. Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to any transaction for which payment is made by any demand or negotiable instrument, electronic fund transfer, check, gift card, money order, credit card, or other like instrument or method.
(e) Rule of construction. Nothing in this Act may be construed to require any person to round a payment as described in subsections (a) or (b).
(f) Covered amount defined. In this section, the term covered amount means—
(1) the total transaction amount, including taxes; or
(2) in the case of a person selling goods or services in a cash transaction or entering into any other transaction that results in a payment or transfer of cash between the parties to the transaction, the amount of change due to the customer if the customer provides a cash payment that exceeds the total transaction amount, including taxes.