Congress Passes the Common Cents Act — Penny Bill Heads to the President

The Common Cents Act has cleared Congress. On September 28, 2026, the Senate discharged its Banking Committee and passed H.R. 10167 without amendment by unanimous consent, two weeks after the House approved the same bill by voice vote. With both chambers having passed identical text, the bill now goes to the President — the last step before penny elimination becomes federal law.

Why a New Bill Number

This summer each chamber passed its own version: the House approved H.R. 3074 on July 14, and the Senate approved its companion S. 1525 on August 7. Because those were different bills, neither could be sent to the President.

On August 27, Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), joined by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), introduced a new bill, H.R. 10167, carrying text identical to the Senate-passed S. 1525. The House took it up under suspension of the rules on September 14, with 40 minutes of debate, and passed it by voice vote. Received in the Senate the next day, it was passed without changes on September 28 — so no further House vote was needed. Neither the sponsors nor the floor debate gave a formal reason for the new bill number; it was the procedural route to a single bill passing both chambers.

What the Bill Does

According to the enrolled text published October 9, the Common Cents Act would:

• Direct Treasury to cease producing one-cent coins for general circulation, while still allowing collector pennies. Existing pennies remain legal tender.
• Permit — not require — cash rounding. A business "may, if exact change cannot be provided," round a cash total: amounts ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents round down; 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents round up (totals of just 1 or 2 cents may round up to 5 cents). Rounding in the customer's favor is always allowed, and employers who round cash wages must round up. Card, check, and other non-cash payments are excluded, and "nothing in this Act may be construed to require any person to round."
• Provide a safe harbor: rounding done under the Act doesn't violate federal, state, tribal, or local rules, except minimum-wage, overtime, and paid-leave laws.
• Require the Federal Reserve to publish, within 90 days of enactment, a strategic plan for penny orders and deposits at coin terminals — with a Treasury assessment of the effects on low-income, older, and unbanked consumers — followed by progress reports.
• Allow a lower-cost nickel with a zinc core and nickel outer layers, if testing shows it cuts cost with minimal impact on coin-accepting machines.
• Require Treasury to give Congress 60 days' notice and a phase-out plan before discontinuing any other circulating coin.

One quirk: the bill's long title still describes it as requiring cash transactions to be rounded, but the operative text is plainly permissive.

In the Senate's Words

Two days after passage, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), the Senate sponsor, said in a statement in the Congressional Record that the penny costs "nearly 4 cents" to make. She described the nickel provision as intended to allow a cheaper zinc-based coin, and a joint statement with Sens. Gillibrand, Duckworth, and Durbin urged Treasury and the Mint to weigh recyclability and supply-chain resilience in choosing a new composition.

What Happens Next

As of October 13, 2026, the enrolled bill had not yet been presented to the President. Once it is, the President has 10 days (Sundays excepted) to sign or veto it. If signed, the Federal Reserve's 90-day reporting clock begins — and the Act would sit on top of the rounding laws more than 20 states have already enacted.

Sources

• H.R. 10167 — official bill status (govinfo BILLSTATUS XML)
• H.R. 10167 — enrolled bill text (govinfo)
• H.R. 10167 (Congress.gov)
• Congress votes to end production of the penny after 234 years (AP via ABC News, Sep 29, 2026)
• House passes revised version of Common Cents Act (ABA Banking Journal, Sep 15, 2026)