WA pushes to end the need for pennies by changing the rules about using cash
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Washington bills set cash transaction rounding after discounts and taxes.
- Rounding applies only to cash; non-cash payments are unaffected.
- Supporters cite predictability; critics cite nostalgia and cultural value.
The U.S. penny is inching toward extinction, and Washington state lawmakers are now moving to respond.
Last year, President Donald Trump told the U.S. Treasury Department to end the minting of the one-cent coin, calling it “wasteful,” according to Reuters; the price tag to make one penny is about 3.69 cents. The federal department has left it up to localities and states to make their own sales tax rules on rounding.
A pair of companion bills in the Washington state House and Senate aim to do just that.
Senate Bill 6230 and House Bill 2334 would round the price of cash transactions. Total sales would be rounded down if the transaction ended in one, two, six or seven cents; they’d be rounded up for those ending in three, four, eight or nine cents.
Such rounding would occur after all discounts, fees, adjustments or taxes were factored in, and it would not pertain to transactions using other payment methods, such as credit cards.
The upper chamber’s bill cleared the Senate Business, Trade & Economic Development Committee on Feb. 4 and was scheduled for another public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 5. The House’s version was set for a House Finance Committee vote on Feb. 6.
Bill sponsor Sen. Noel Frame, a Seattle Democrat, said at a public hearing late last month that the move would create a framework giving businesses predictability.
Mill Creek Rep. April Berg, who sponsored the House version, noted that when the federal government opted to nix penny production, it didn’t give any guidance to states. The Democratic lawmaker said the bill isn’t something she wanted to deal with in a short 60-day session, “but it does matter.”
“It is going to cost businesses time and money,” she said at a Jan. 22 public hearing. “It’s going to cost customers frustration at the register — unless our state steps in and comes up with clear, consistent rules for each transaction in cash by our state.”
Pennies are no longer being made, but that doesn’t mean they’ll completely disappear. Roughly 250 billion pennies are still circulating, according to the American Banking Association, although that is starting to decelerate.
Advocates for ending the penny argue that it’s outdated and inefficient. Critics note that, although small, the currency is still useful.
Wendy Woloson, a history professor at Rutgers University–Camden, posited in a university news article that for many, the penny is nostalgic and holds an important place in American culture.
“It was once linked with the fun of penny candy, and today it’s the penny tray on some shop counters that represents a small but important social contract,” Woloson said, according to the article. “That ‘take a penny or leave a penny’ gesture is humanizing.”
In Washington, lots of stores had trouble offering exact change during cash transactions over the holidays, Molly Pfaffenroth with the Washington Food Industry Association (WFIA) said at a hearing on Berg’s bill. Many establishments already rounding up or down have been worried about doing so in the absence of state guidance.
“This bill provides the guardrails that we need to update our POS (point of sale) systems — a costly endeavor — as well as certainty to our employees and customers,” Pfaffenroth said.
Other organizations testifying in support of these bills included the Washington Retail Association and Northwest Grocery Retail Association, although they made suggestions for tweaks.
Pfaffenroth, for example, noted that WFIA stores accept EBT cards for customers using food benefits. She said WFIA would like more guidance on safeguarding stores from breaking the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program equal treatment rule, which prevents SNAP customers from being charged more or less than other customers, on rounded cash transactions.
March 12 is the last day of the 2026 session.
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "WA pushes to end the need for pennies by changing the rules about using cash."
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