Business owners say they are “running low” on pennies.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state has established guidelines for businesses looking to eliminate pennies from cash transactions, following the federal government’s decision to stop producing the one-cent coin.
Gov. Bob Ferguson signed legislation Monday establishing rounding rules for businesses that choose to phase out pennies.
The bill, sponsored by State Representative April Berg, creates optional guidelines for businesses.
Charges ending in one, two, six, or seven cents are rounded down to the nearest nickel or dime, while those ending in three, four, eight, or nine cents are rounded up.
The U.S. Mint halted penny production last November, driven by the economics of the coin — it was costing nearly four cents to produce each one-cent piece.
While hundreds billions of pennies remain in circulation, the supply isn’t always accessible to businesses still making change.
Berg acknowledged the widespread consequences of the decision.
“When you stop minting a currency, there’s a lot of impacts,” she said. “And there’s a lot of impacts to states. There’s a lot of impacts to local government, to businesses,” said Berg, (D) Everett.
Some local businesses are already feeling the pinch.
Last Word Books in Olympia has been scraping together coins just to keep the register stocked.
“We are running low on pennies,” Jeremy Cooper said, adding that they’ve resorted to a take-a-penny, leave-a-penny tray to replenish their supply.
Cooper, who still makes change for customers, said clearer planning ahead of the mint’s shutdown would have helped.
“I really wish just some plan set in motion prior to the ending of the pennies would have been nice,” he said with a laugh.
At Well 80 Brewhouse, only about five percent of customers pay with cash, but management still welcomes the state’s guidance.
“I think we’re already kind of down that road, and people are sort of used to it,” said owner Chris Knudson, “But when they can’t get them (pennies), that might be a little odd.”
