HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — As the penny falls out of favor, Florida state legislators recently passed a bill that would allow businesses to round cash payments to the nearest nickel.
That bill is now on the desk of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, awaiting his signature before it becomes law.
When you’re rung up at the register and pay with cash, if your total ends in 1 or 2 cents, they’ll round down to zero, and 3 or 4 cents will get rounded up to five.
Florida’s change would mostly affect businesses like convenience stores that often deal in cash.
Mario, a cashier at a Shell gas station in Hollywood, says he only sees maybe a few pennies an entire day; it’s pretty rare, so he’s not surprised.
“Lots of people don’t have pennies,” he said. “When I give back the pennies, they leave it here for some other customer who need it. No there’s no more pennies anymore.”
A customer who said he understands the change, gave his two cents on the matter.
“I got the silver pennies, I got the wheat pennies, regular pennies, and Indian heads,” said customer Dara. “I kinda saw it coming. Things are getting more expensive and pennies are gonna be useless soon.”
Last year, the U.S. Mint officially stopped making new pennies because they cost more to make than they’re worth at this point.
Albert Williams is an economics professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Huizenga School of Business.
He said it costs almost 4 cents to make a single penny.
“We’re gonna make transactions a little bit easier I think,” he said. “It’s kinda a no-brainer. Why would you want to make something that’s worth one penny that’s costing nearly four pennies to make?”
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