# 119-hr-3074: Common Cents Act

119-hr-3074, Common Cents Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. McClain, Lisa C. [R-MI-9] (R-MI); status passed_house; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-17).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3074
- As of: 2026-09-17
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-3074
- Congress: 119
- Title: Common Cents Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-04-29
- Sponsor: Rep. McClain, Lisa C. [R-MI-9] (R-MI)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-17

## Summary

**End penny production for general circulation** while preserving pre-enactment pennies as legal tender and allowing collectible one-cent coins. It would let the Treasury authorize a zinc–nickel inner/outer 5-cent design to lower production costs and create a nationwide cash rounding system that moves cash totals to five-cent increments under set rules. - Households and cash users will see totals or change rounded to the nearest 5 cents when exact change is not available. Non-cash payments like cards, checks, gift cards, and electronic transfers are not subject to rounding. - Merchants and cash-handling businesses can use the prescribed rounding mechanics and may choose rounding that favors customers in some cases. The law lets the Secretary set nickel compositions to reduce costs and to limit problems for coin-accepting machines. - The Federal Reserve must submit a strategic plan within 90 days and follow-up reports at 6, 18, and 30 months. Those reports must assess penny supply, distribution stress, and effects on low-income, older, unbanked, and underbanked populations.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42] (D-CA), 2025-04-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Cash wage rounding favors workers: benefit, low. If enacted, when an employer pays wages in cash and chooses to round, the cents would be rounded up to the next $0.05. If the employer pays the exact amount, no rounding would occur. This would give workers up to four extra cents per rounded cash payment.
- End penny production and plan transition: mixed, high. If enacted, the Mint would stop making pennies for everyday use, but could sell new pennies to collectors. All pennies made before enactment would stay legal tender. Treasury would send the Federal Reserve an impact assessment at least 60 days after enactment. The Federal Reserve would publish a pu…
- Test cheaper metals for the nickel: mixed, medium. If enacted, Treasury could change the nickel’s metals and weight to cut costs after testing. A nickel could remain a 5‑gram copper‑nickel alloy, or weigh 4 to 6 grams with a zinc core and nickel outer layer. Any change would require tests showing savings and, as much as possible, little harm to coi…
- Nationwide rounding rules for cash purchases: mixed, low. If enacted, cash totals would be rounded to the nearest $0.05 only when exact change is not available. The amount used for rounding would be the tax‑included total, or if you pay more cash than the total, the change due. Endings of 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents would round down; 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents would rou…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-6337: ROAD to Housing Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4312: SCORE Act
- 119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act
- 119-hr-10167: Common Cents Act
- 119-hr-3495: Direct Seller and Real Estate Agent Harmonization Act
- 119-hr-2598: IDEA Full Funding Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-3074 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3074)

## Related
- [119-hr-6337: ROAD to Housing Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6337)
- [119-hr-4312: SCORE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4312)
- [119-hr-6955: Main Street Capital Access Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6955)
- [119-hr-10167: Common Cents Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10167)
- [119-hr-3495: Direct Seller and Real Estate Agent Harmonization Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3495)
- [119-hr-2598: IDEA Full Funding Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2598)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3074 (as of 2026-09-17).