Committee adopts amendment and advances bill allowing rounding of cash transactions to nearest 5¢

The Senate Business, Trade and Economic Development Committee on Feb. 25 adopted amendment B1 to Substitute House Bill 2334, which authorizes sellers to round the total price of a cash transaction to the nearest 5¢ increment and clarifies how mixed-tender transactions and gift-card change are handled. After adopting B1 by voice vote, the committee moved to roll the amendment into a striking amendment and sent the bill to the Transportation Committee.

Unidentified Staff (committee staff) summarized the House bill earlier in the meeting, saying it had passed the House by a reported vote of 89 yeas to 6 nays and that the Department of Licensing provided a fiscal estimate noted in the transcript as “186,000 in 1 time expenditures from the motor vehicle accounts.” The transcript does not specify the currency or precise unit for that figure.

Unidentified Chair described the substance of amendment B1 as clarifying rounding of change and correcting requirements for gift cards so that pennies would not be required on gift cards. Unidentified Member moved adoption of the amendment; the amendment was adopted by voice vote. The member then moved that the amendment be rolled into a striking amendment and the bill be sent to the Transportation Committee; that motion also passed by voice vote. The chair announced the bill had passed "subject to signatures." The transcript records no roll-call vote or individual vote tallies.

Chair Kauffman is identified in the transcript as the sponsor of amendment B1; the transcript does not explicitly state that Chair Kauffman spoke during this session. The committee did not record further debate on implementation details, enforcement, or the exact fiscal effect in this session.