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
Section 5111 of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking and at the end;
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
(5) may discontinue the minting for circulation of any coin that is described in paragraph (1) (and that is minted for circulation, as of the date of enactment of this paragraph) only in accordance with the procedures described in subsection (e).
; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
(e) Discontinuation
(1) Definition. In this subsection, the term covered committees means—
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
(2) Requirements. The Secretary of the Treasury may not discontinue the minting for circulation of a coin described in subsection (a)(5) unless the Secretary—
(A) not later than 60 days before that discontinuation, and in coordination with the Director of the United States Mint, submits to the covered committees notice regarding that discontinuation, which shall include—
(i) a description of the reasoning for that discontinuation, including fiscal and operational considerations; and
(ii) a comprehensive plan for phasing out the circulating coin, taking into consideration—
(I) the potential impacts of that discontinuation on consumers and businesses; and
(II) the potential economic impacts of that discontinuation; and
(B) not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary submits the notice required under subparagraph (A), provides a briefing to the covered committees regarding the plan for implementing that discontinuation.