Is WA State Ready to Round Up or Down Due to Penny Shortage? Legislators Propose Bill

The US Mint announced last November they have stopped making pennies, because of the cost. Now what?

  WA State Legislature Considering Round Up-Down Bill

The cost of making a penny crept over $3.00 in 2025, and the US Mint decided to pull the plug, they'd been considering it for a long time.

Now comes the hard part, over cash transactions. WA State House Bill 2334 would require prices to either be rounded up to the nearest nickel or down.  According to MyNorthwest.com and other sources,  prices that end in 1, 2, 6, and 7 cents would be rounded down to the nearest nickel.  For example, if an item costs 5.02, it would cost $5.00.

Get our free mobile app

If an item's price ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9 it would be rounded up.  So if an item costs $5,08, ir would go up to $5.10.  If it were $5.03, it would go to $5.05.

Undoubtedly, this would create quite the pricing adjustment by manufacturerers suppliers and retailers across the board.  We are already hearing about penny shortages affecting some local stores, especially ones that have cash-back options in their self-checkout lines.

No word if the bill is moving quickly or getting traction in the legislature.  The bill is somewhat similar to what Canada did when they stopped making pennies 14 years ago.

Critics and opponents say this system would produce higher prices and cause disruptions for lower-income consumers, and those who depend more heavily on cash transactions.