On August 7, 2026, the U.S. Senate passed the Common Cents Act (S. 1525) by unanimous consent — discharging the Banking Committee and adopting an amendment that conformed the bill to the permissive, opt-in version the House passed in July. With both chambers having now approved matching text, the bill is one step from the President's desk: because each chamber passed a different bill number, the House must still pass the Senate's S. 1525. It would end penny production for circulation, permit cash rounding to the nearest nickel, add Federal Reserve reporting, and let Treasury test a lower-cost nickel.
The U.S. Senate passed the Common Cents Act (S. 1525) on August 7, 2026, by unanimous consent — the first time the Senate has acted on the bill since it was introduced in April 2025, and the clearest sign yet that a federal law formally ending the penny is within reach. Combined with the House's passage of the companion H.R. 3074 on July 14, both chambers of Congress have now approved the measure, leaving it one step from the President's desk.
How It Cleared the Senate
For more than a year, S. 1525 sat in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs without a hearing. That changed quickly in early August:
- August 4, 2026 — Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) signed on as cosponsors, joining sponsor Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and original cosponsor Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
- August 7, 2026 — the Banking Committee was discharged by unanimous consent, an amendment (SA 6766, offered by Sen. Lummis on behalf of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH)) was agreed to, and the Senate passed the bill with that amendment by unanimous consent — with no recorded vote, reflecting the absence of objection.
What the Senate Passed
Crucially, the amendment conformed S. 1525 to the permissive, opt-in version the House passed in July, resolving the earlier gap between the two chambers' texts. The engrossed Senate bill:
- Makes cash rounding permissive — businesses may round cash totals to the nearest five cents, and nothing in the Act may be construed to require anyone to round.
- Directs Treasury to stop producing one-cent coins for general circulation, while allowing continued production of collector coins, and confirms existing pennies remain legal tender.
- Adds a Federal Reserve reporting requirement on penny supply and the impact of shortages and rounding on low-income, older, unbanked, and underbanked consumers.
- Gives Treasury authority to set a lower-cost 5-cent coin composition, tested to have a "minimal adverse impact on machines designed to accept coins."
What Happens Next
Passage by both chambers is a milestone, but not the finish line. Because the House passed H.R. 3074 and the Senate passed S. 1525 — two different bill numbers — a single measure still has to clear both chambers before it can go to the President. The most direct path is for the House to take up and pass the Senate-passed S. 1525; since the texts now match, that step could move quickly, though nothing has been scheduled.
If the House passes S. 1525 and the President signs it, the Common Cents Act would — for the first time — codify the end of penny production at the federal level and establish a nationwide, opt-in cash-rounding framework, layered on top of the rounding laws 20 states have already enacted on their own.