Common Cents Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA of California. 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 The reality is that the penny now is just out of date.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.

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