Common Cents Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the

bill (H.R. 3074) to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to stop minting the penny, to require cash transactions to be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the House floor in support of Republican Conference Chairwoman McClain's bill, the Common Cents Act.

This is a simple, common ``cents'' bill aimed at saving taxpayer dollars and modernizing a part of our currency system that no longer makes economic sense.

The numbers speak for themselves. According to an audit of the United States Mint, it costs $3.69 to make one penny.

That is the 19th year in a row, Mr. Speaker, the government has spent more to make a penny than a penny is worth.

Last year alone, taxpayers lost more than $85 million producing pennies.

Chairwoman McClain's bill simply codifies President Trump's directive to the Mint to stop producing pennies.

Of course, we have to be practical. If we are going to no longer make pennies, people are likely to use more nickels. The problem is that nickels aren't exactly a bargain either and the gentleman from Massachusetts knows it.

They cost nearly 14 cents to produce, so we need to make sure we don't solve one problem by creating another one. That is why Mrs. McClain's bill also gives the U.S. Treasury Secretary the authority to move to a lower cost, zinc-based nickel to ensure that increased nickel demand is not mitigating the savings due to the elimination of the penny.

The bill also addresses something retailers and consumers are already experiencing. With fewer pennies available, many cash transactions are rounded to the nearest nickel.

H.R. 3074 provides a clear, uniform standard for how these transactions can be rounded, giving businesses certainty and ensuring everyone is playing by the same rules.

This bill is about good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. It is about recognizing when government can do things more efficiently, making smart updates where they are needed, and saving money in the process.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3074, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain), our Republican Conference chair and the author of this bill. I really just ask her for a penny for her thoughts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), our chairman of the Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity. In my experience of being chairman of the committee on which he serves, he is a man who always comes to the committee and plans on throwing his 2 cents into every debate.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and the minority for helping to make this a strong bipartisan bill to do something that is common sense, with no pun intended. In fact, for all of the good reasons that Mr. Lucas and Mrs. McClain outlined, this is the right decision at the right time for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I remind both the bankers across the country, the retailers, and all of the consumers out there that, as noted by Mr. Garcia, there are well over 100 billion pennies floating around out there in jars and drawers and cash registers across the country. You may still use those pennies until your heart is content.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3074, the Common Cents Act, sponsored by Representative McClain. I thank Representative McClain, along with Representative Robert Garcia, for their work on this legislation.

The idea to end penny production is not a new one. In fact, other countries, like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have stopped producing pennies themselves. However, many of these countries executed this plan through a deliberate and meaningful process.

Unlike the approach taken by other countries, in February 2025, President Donald Trump abruptly announced on his Truth Social media account that he directed the Treasury to stop minting pennies. This decision, not surprisingly, ignored the critical role and constitutional authority of Congress in regulating the currency.

While the Secretary of the Treasury did carry out President Trump's orders, the administration failed to provide a strategic plan or guidance for the public on how to handle this change, which would impact all segments of the economy.

This sudden decision is emblematic of how the administration carries out policy. They do it suddenly, without expert engagement, without feedback, and without consideration of potential harms.

For these reasons, I was glad to see that Ranking Member Waters, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), Representative McClain, and Representative Garcia worked together for over a year to thoughtfully provide much-needed clarity to businesses and consumers in this legislation.

In its current form, this bill has made significant improvements from when it was first marked up in our committee. As drafted, the bill now allows businesses to round cash transactions if exact change cannot be provided, and it also authorizes businesses to continue to round in favor of customers.

This legislation also requires the Federal Reserve to prepare a strategic plan in connection with managing the circulation of the penny. Additionally, the bill will now grapple with potential unintended consequences that come from ending penny production, like rounding cash transactions on low-income and unbanked communities and more.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Arkansas for his leadership on this. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia), who is also the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mrs. McClain and Mr. Garcia for their good work. The administration has already ceased penny production, but this legislation does the necessary work of providing meaningful guidance for consumers and businesses across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those comments by the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Common Cents Act. This bill has been over a year in the making with my colleagues Mrs. McClain and Mr. Garcia from California, and I am proud of the product that we put forward today.

The 1 cent piece, or the penny as it is commonly known, does indeed cost almost 4 cents to produce, and 2024 was the 19th consecutive year the U.S. Government lost money keeping the 1 cent piece in circulation.

That is why this year, the President rightly ordered the Department of the Treasury to stop wasting hard-earned taxpayer money to produce the coin and why we are excited to move forward in codifying this action.

The Common Cents Act also gives flexibility to the Mint to produce a nickel with cheaper materials. In 1866, Congress mandated the nickel be produced from an alloy of copper and nickel, and we haven't updated the composition since. This bill gives the Mint the flexibility to produce a cheaper coin, while retaining Congress' responsibility of coining money.

Finally, the bill provides certainty for businesses in their cash transactions with customers without mandating price controls from the government.

We are also proud to boast the endorsements of the National Retail Federation, the National Grocers Association, the United Steelworkers International Union, and the American Bankers Association, among many others.

I must take one moment and note with the passing of the 1 cent piece, it is a coin that was mandated in the 1792 Mint Act, a coin that when it was originally produced in 1793 by the United States Mint in that very fledgling facility in Philadelphia, represented 1 cent of pure copper.

Over time, with inflation and the changing consumer patterns, we went to the smaller 1-cent piece we now use in 1857. Now, all of this time later, the 1-cent piece has passed its prime and time.

Yet, it was a coin that was important to commerce from the founding of the country. It was an important coin because every American at least had a few cents in their pocket, even in the toughest times, over the last 200 years.

Now we move forward. Again, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the Financial Services Committee for making these wise decisions in codifying it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hill for his help on this.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3074, the Common Cents Act. This is a straightforward bill that accomplishes one commonsense goal. It stops the Federal Government from losing money on a coin that almost no one uses.

Here is the problem: Every penny we mint costs the taxpayers nearly 4 cents. Think about that. We are spending 4 cents to make 1 cent. Last year alone, that absurd math cost the American taxpayers more than $85 million. I think we can be a better steward of the taxpayers' money than that.

As a businesswoman, I can assure you that no businessowner in my district or myself would ever spend four times as much to make $1. Yet, that is exactly how Washington has managed the penny year after year. Quite frankly, that does not make sense.

The Common Cents Act fixes it. It directs the Treasury to stop minting the penny for general circulation, and quite frankly, that is it.

It does not take away a single penny that somebody already owns. Every penny in your pocket, every penny in your piggy bank, and every penny in that jar on your counter stays as legal tender if it is unused.

This is not a radical idea. President Trump called for it. It is his commonsense idea, and it should become law.

I introduced this bill with Congressman Robert Garcia, and it cleared the Committee on Financial Services with strong bipartisan support.

Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much in this town, but we do agree on this: We shouldn't be wasting $85 million a year to keep minting pennies.

Not only do we agree, but, Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from local industry leaders who also support this commonsense piece of legislation.

America's Credit Unions,

Washington, DC, July 13, 2026.

Re Credit Union Support for H.R. 3074, the Common Cents Act.

Hon. Mike Johnson,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Hakeem Jeffries,

House Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington,

Mr. Speaker, it is time to modernize our currency policy and bring some commonsense back to Washington. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation and vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to co-lead this legislation with Representative Lisa McClain, and I rise, of course, in strong support of this bill.

As has been said, we know that a penny costs taxpayers 3.7 cents to produce, so it makes zero sense to spend almost 4 cents creating only 1 cent.

This bill is common sense. It has bipartisan support, and it saves taxpayers money and reduces waste.

In 2023 alone, the Mint lost approximately $180 million making pennies. The reality is that the penny now is just out of date.

As the cost of living increases for many, with folks tapping technology

on their phones or cards to pay their bills, we should not be pouring millions and millions of taxpayer dollars into a coin that is now rarely used.

This is not a partisan idea. As has been said, countries from all across the world--Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others--have stopped using and producing low-value coins without any issues or problems for the population.

This bill provides clarity by giving businesses the option, not the requirement, to round cash transactions to the nearest nickel when exact change isn't available.

It also ensures that existing pennies, more than 114 billion of them, will also remain legal tender. Folks can keep those pennies if they have them at home.

Now, the government should stop spending nearly 4 cents to make 1 cent coins.

The Common Cents Act eliminates a wasteful, obsolete coin while protecting pennies as legal tender. Let's stop throwing good money after the bad and pass the Common Cents Act.