Georgia grapples with rounding change after the demise of the penny
The penny died months ago. Now, state lawmakers are giving their two cents on how to handle the dwindling supply of 1-cent coins.
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow retailers to round prices to the nearest nickel when making change and calculating sales taxes on cash sales.
“You round up or down to the nearest zero, five or 10, and it all comes out pretty even that way,” said state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome.
The bill uses “symmetrical rounding,” which would round to the nearest 5-cent mark. Under House Bill 1112, if a total ends in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents, the price would be rounded down. If the price ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents, those paying in cash would round up.
But in the unlikely circumstance that a transaction total is 1 or 2 cents, it would be rounded up to a nickel.
It doesn’t mean the end of the penny quite yet. Those who carry cash would still be able to spend their change, as the bill would require retailers to accept exact change if people have it.
The measure will now head back to the House.
Georgia is among about two dozen states that have introduced similar rounding legislation in the wake of the penny’s demise, including Florida and Tennessee.
Robert Whaples, professor of economics at Wake Forest University, who has advocated for an end to the 1-cent coin, said that rounding prices to the nearest nickel isn’t likely to have much of an impact on consumers, as the total would be just as likely to be rounded up as it would be down.
President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to stop putting new pennies into circulation as a cost-cutting measure. After all, it cost about 3.7 cents to create one penny, according to the Mint.
The U.S. Treasury Department has said that the remaining supply of roughly 114 billion 1-cent coins will continue to circulate for a long time.
Former state Sen. Brandon Beach, who took over as U.S. treasurer in the second Trump administration, struck the final circulating penny last year.
The U.S. Treasury has estimated that ending the penny will save $56 million annually. However, it could increase the demand for nickels — another expensive coin to produce. In 2024, it cost about 14 cents to create a nickel, according to the Mint.
About the Author
Caleb Groves is a general assignment reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's politics team and a Kennesaw State University graduate.
