Lawmakers target ‘rounding gray area’
House Bill 737, introduced by Republican Reps. Bill Roemer of Richfield and Thomas Hall of Madison Township, would require most cash transactions in Ohio to be rounded to the nearest nickel once sales tax is included. The proposal comes after the U.S. Mint halted penny production in February 2025 at the direction of President Donald Trump, a move that has since created a penny shortage and confusion at cash registers nationwide.
Under the Ohio bill, the underlying prices and tax rates would not change; only the final amount paid in physical coins would be adjusted up or down to the nearest five cents. Electronic transactions — including debit and credit card payments, mobile wallets and bank transfers — would continue to be charged to the exact cent.
How the rounding would work
HB 737 would write into law a symmetrical rounding formula that supporters say is designed to be fair over time for both customers and retailers. After tax, cash totals ending in one or two cents would round down to zero, while amounts ending in three or four cents would round up to five. Totals ending in six or seven cents would round down to five, and those ending in eight or nine cents would round up to the next dime.
For example, a $10.01 or $10.02 purchase paid in cash would be settled at $10.00, while a $10.03 or $10.04 purchase would be rounded to $10.05. A $10.06 or $10.07 total would round down to $10.05, and a $10.08 or $10.09 cash total would be rounded up to $10.10.Business concerns and liability fears
Some Ohio businesses have already begun rounding cash totals informally since penny production stopped last November, but they have done so without clear statewide rules. Roemer said merchants have pressed lawmakers for guidance, worried that ad‑hoc rounding could expose them to complaints or even lawsuits over a few cents.
“Somebody could say ‘you rounded me down and you shouldn’t have and you owe me two cents’ and they end up in a lawsuit,” Roemer said in an interview explaining the need for a uniform standard. By spelling out exactly when to round up or down, HB 737 is meant to create a legal safe harbor for retailers that follow the state‑approved method.
Supporters cite cost savings, evolving economy
Backers frame the bill as a practical response to an economic reality: Pennies cost far more to make and move than they are worth and are increasingly scarce in circulation. Lawmakers and industry groups have pointed to estimates that producing and distributing each penny costs well above one cent, with tens of millions of dollars lost annually nationwide.
“This is common‑sense legislation that reflects the reality of today’s economy,” Roemer said in a statement, arguing that rounding cash transactions can reduce unnecessary costs while allowing businesses and consumers to keep paying with coins. Hall has said Ohio’s policies should “evolve” with the broader shift away from low‑denomination coins, emphasizing that the measure is intended to support community businesses rather than change tax burdens.
Part of a wider national shift
Ohio is not alone in scrambling to address the disappearance of pennies. States including Indiana, Tennessee, Arizona, Oregon and Washington have considered or adopted their own rules on rounding cash purchases as the one‑cent coin becomes harder to find. Some have mandated rounding; others have made it optional while shielding businesses from consumer protection claims if they follow symmetrical rounding practices.
At the federal level, lawmakers previously advanced a “Common Cents Act” to set a uniform national rounding standard while keeping pennies as legal tender, though that measure has not been enacted. In the meantime, state‑level experiments like Ohio’s HB 737 are likely to shape how everyday cash transactions work in a post‑penny economy.
HB 737 has been introduced in the Ohio House and is awaiting its first committee assignment, where lawmakers will hear testimony from retailers, consumer advocates and state tax officials before deciding whether to move the bill forward.