Senate Unanimously Approves Common Cents Act<\/h2>\n
The Senate unanimously approved the\u00a0Common Cents Act<\/strong>, a practical measure that formally ends production of the money-losing penny and gives the Treasury Department authority to develop a cheaper nickel.<\/p>\n The move, many argue, will potentially save taxpayers millions while simplifying everyday cash purchases for American consumers and small businesses.<\/p>\n The legislation, which already cleared the House earlier, advanced by unanimous consent.<\/p>\n It targets\u00a0three long-standing problems with U.S. coinage<\/strong>\u00a0that have quietly drained public resources and created headaches at checkout counters nationwide.<\/p>\n First, the bill officially terminates the minting of circulating pennies.<\/p>\n The U.S. Mint already produced its final one-cent coins for general circulation last year, though special collectible versions marking America\u2019s 250th anniversary entered circulation earlier this year.<\/p>\n Under the new measure, the Federal Reserve must work to minimize any remaining supply disruptions.<\/p>\n Existing pennies stay fully legal tender\u2014Americans still hold an estimated\u00a0300 billion<\/strong>\u00a0of them, or more than 800 per person\u2014so no one loses the value of coins already in their pockets, jars, or couches.<\/p>\n The second major provision addresses the real-world confusion that has grown since pennies stopped flowing to retailers.<\/p>\n Businesses would gain the clear legal option to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel.<\/p>\n A purchase totaling $19.82 would round down to $19.80, while $19.83 would round up to $19.85.<\/p>\n This voluntary approach applies only to cash deals, leaving credit cards, mobile payments, and checks unaffected.<\/p>\n Advocates note that some states and localities currently ban the practice, creating a patchwork of rules that frustrates both store owners and customers.<\/p>\n The Common Cents Act would preempt those restrictions and restore common sense at the register.<\/p>\n Perhaps most important for fiscal conservatives, the legislation tackles the chronically unprofitable nickel.<\/p>\n Producing a single five-cent coin cost taxpayers\u00a013.31 cents in fiscal year 2025<\/strong>\u2014down only slightly from 13.78 cents the year before.<\/p>\n That marks\u00a0two full decades of the government losing money on every nickel<\/strong>\u00a0it strikes. The coin is roughly 75 percent copper, and soaring metal prices have driven the losses, just as they once did for the penny.<\/p>\n The bill empowers the Treasury to test and evaluate a more affordable alternative recipe. Both the House and Senate versions call for a\u00a0\u201ccomposition of zinc and nickel\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0for the coin,\u00a0\u201csubject to testing and evaluation\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0that shows it cuts cost and\u00a0\u201chas a minimal adverse impact on machines designed to accept coins.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Zinc traded nearly $7,000 per metric ton cheaper than copper last year, according to Mint data.<\/p>\n Only the penny and the dollar coin currently use zinc in significant amounts.<\/p>\n Officials stress that any new formula must still work smoothly in vending machines, parking meters, and coin counters that millions of businesses rely on.<\/p>\n A separate proposal to eliminate the nickel remains stuck in a House committee, so the five-cent piece will continue circulating for now.<\/p>\n The Common Cents Act wisely focuses on making the existing coin cheaper rather than rushing to abolish it.<\/p>\n If the president signs the measure into law, Americans can expect fewer pointless government losses on coin production and smoother cash payments in stores.<\/p>\n Retailers will no longer face conflicting local rules about rounding, and the Treasury will finally have tools to redesign the nickel without waiting for another two decades of red ink.<\/p>\n The unanimous Senate vote signals that even in a polarized Congress, lawmakers can still agree on basic fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n Cutting waste on coins that cost more to make than they are worth is the kind of straightforward reform that benefits every taxpayer, small-business owner, and cash-paying customer.<\/p>\n The Common Cents Act delivers exactly that\u2014practical solutions without the usual Washington drama.<\/p>\n The U.S. Senate showed a rare display of bipartisanship this week that does not happen often. Senate Unanimously Approves Common Cents Act The Senate unanimously approved the\u00a0Common Cents Act, a practical measure that formally ends production of the money-losing penny and gives the Treasury Department authority to develop a cheaper nickel. The move, many argue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morningpost.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ending Penny Production and Protecting Existing Coins<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nCash Rounding to the Nearest Nickel<\/h2>\n
Making the Nickel More Affordable<\/h2>\n
Practical Solutions for Fiscal Responsibility<\/h2>\n
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