FMI – The Food Industry Association and 210 national and state associations representing Main Street businesses have sent a letter to U.S. House leadership urging enactment of bipartisan legislation addressing the ceased minting of the penny.
The Common Cents Act would give businesses the ability to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel when pennies are not available to make exact change, and it addresses continuity issues between the federal rounding solution and the state, local and tribal penny rounding laws implemented over the past year.
Burden on grocers
“Since the ceased minting of the penny last summer, grocery stores have experienced an inability to provide exact change to cash-paying customers and have had no choice but to round to the nearest nickel when exact change is unavailable,” said Christine Pollack, FMI VP of government relations. “This has created confusion for customers, and grocers have been exposed to possible litigation and potential violation of federal, state and local laws.”
The House passed its version of the bill, H.R. 3074, by voice vote July 14. The Senate added a minor process clarification to its version, S. 1525, and passed it by unanimous consent Aug. 7. The Senate-passed version must now be considered by the House before it can be sent to President Trump to be signed into law — the final procedural step the coalition letter urges leadership to schedule.
“The Common Cents Act is the federal solution to address the confusion faced by customers and the operations challenges that grocers and other Main Street businesses have encountered due to the ceased minting of the penny,” Pollack said. “Enactment of the Common Cents Act is of the utmost importance for grocery customers and food retailers.”
Under the legislation, cash totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents would round down to the nearest nickel, while totals ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents would round up. The signatories noted in the letter that enactment is critical so that businesses and consumers have certainty and consistency in everyday cash transactions.