Staff Reports
The penny is finally getting the congressional funeral it should have had years ago — but don’t break out the tiny top hat just yet. Congress has cleared companion bills called the Common Cents Act that would stop minting pennies for general use and set rules for how change is handled. This is a big step, but it is not quite the final step to make the change law.
What Congress just did
Both the House and the Senate passed companion versions of the Common Cents Act. The Senate approved S.1525 by unanimous consent, and the House passed H.R.3074 by voice vote under suspension of the rules. Representative Lisa McClain and Senator Cynthia Lummis lead the effort. That is real bipartisan action. But the chambers passed different bill numbers, so one chamber must act on the other chamber’s exact text before the measure can be sent to the President and signed into law.
Why the penny is on life support
The math on this coin stopped making sense years ago. The U.S. Mint reported it costs about 3.69 cents to make a one‑cent coin. That means we lose money every time a penny is made. With most people using cards and phones to pay, pennies pile up in jars and couches. Senators like James Lankford have called the penny a poor use of taxpayer dollars. Ending its production for circulation is a common‑sense cut to wasteful spending.
How rounding and coin changes will work
The bill lets businesses round cash totals to the nearest nickel so pennies aren’t needed. The House text frames rounding as an opt‑in choice for merchants, while the Senate text sets out a symmetric rounding rule tied to the nickel. Electronic payments stay exact to the cent. The bill also protects workers: if an employer pays wages in cash and rounding applies, the rule requires rounding up. The Treasury can still make collector pennies, and it will test a cheaper nickel composition to cut costs.
Next steps and why you should care
This is practical reform, but it’s not done until both chambers pass the same words and the President signs off. Watch for the House to take up the Senate text (or vice versa), and for the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to issue guidance on rounding, coin supply, and effects on low‑income and unbanked Americans. If Congress finishes this quickly, taxpayers save money and shoppers lose only a heavy little coin. If lawmakers drag their feet, we keep wasting money every time the Mint makes a coin worth less than it costs to stamp out. Good riddance to the penny—let’s finish the job.
