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Subcommittee backs bill to allow cash-rounding safe harbor after penny discontinued
Summary
Chairman Baum said House Bill 1744 would allow businesses to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel and create a statutory safe harbor from liability under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977; the panel voted 7–0 to move the bill to Commerce.
Chairman Baum explained that because the penny stopped being printed last year, businesses face issues giving exact cash change and that House Bill 1744 would allow businesses to adopt a lawful rounding procedure: "it's permissive for a business to round to the nearest nickel."
Baum said the bill specifies rounding rules (round down on amounts ending in 1 or 2 cents; round up on amounts ending in 3 or 4 cents) and provides a safe harbor from liability under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977 for businesses following the code's rounding procedure. After brief colloquy and some lighthearted comments about pennies, the clerk reported "7 ayes and 0 nos," and the subcommittee advanced the bill to Commerce.
The sponsor framed the bill as creating legal certainty for private businesses that choose to round cash transactions now that pennies are no longer minted.
