Common Cents Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3074 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3074

 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to stop minting the penny, to
require cash transactions to be rounded up or down to the nearest five
                     cents, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 29, 2025

Mrs. McClain (for herself and Mr. Garcia of California) introduced the
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to stop minting the penny, to
require cash transactions to be rounded up or down to the nearest five
                     cents, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Common Cents Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF PRODUCTION OF ONE-CENT COIN.

    (a) Elimination.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, except as provided in subsection (b) and notwithstanding
any other provision of law (including section 5112(a)(6) of title 31,
United States Code), the Secretary of the Treasury shall cease
production of one-cent coins.
    (b) Exception.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
        continue to produce one-cent coins as appropriate solely to
        meet the needs of numismatic collectors of the one-cent coin.
            (2) Sale.--Any one-cent coin produced under this subsection
        shall be sold in accordance with section 5132(a) of title 31
        United States Code, and any other provisions of law governing
        numismatic coins.
            (3) Net receipts.--The net receipts from the sale of any
        one-cent coin produced under this subsection shall equal or
        exceed the total cost of production, including variable costs
        and the appropriate share of fixed costs of production, as
        determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.
    (c) No Effect on Legal Tender.--All coins and currencies of the
United States, regardless of when coined, printed, or issued, and
including one-cent coins, shall continue to be legal tender for all
debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, duties, and dues, in
accordance with law.

SEC. 3. CASH TRANSACTION ROUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 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:
            (1) Rounding down.--In any case in which the total
        transaction amount, including any taxes, ends with 1 cent, 2
        cents, 6 cents, or 7 cents as the final digit, the amount of
        cents in the sum shall be rounded down to the nearest amount
        divisible by 5 for any person seeking to make payment with
        legal tender.
            (2) Rounding up.--In any case in which the total
        transaction amount, including any taxes, ends with 3 cents, 4
        cents, 8 cents, or 9 cents as the final digit, the amount of
        cents in the sum shall be rounded up to the nearest amount
        divisible by 5 for any person seeking to make payment with
        legal tender.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to--
            (1) transactions in which the total transaction amount,
        including any taxes, totals $0.01 or $0.02, where such
        transactions shall be rounded up to $.05 for any person seeking
        to make payment with legal tender; or
            (2) 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.
    (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 1 year after
the date of enactment of this Act.
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