Alabama House Passes Rounding Bill for Cash Purchases

0:00It's March 24th. Birmingham News Today starts now. AI-powered and ready. I'm Cory with the story. Alabama's House of Representatives just passed a bill to round up or down in-person cash purchases to the nearest nickel. The change aims to handle transactions without pennies, since the U.S. Mint stopped producing them late last year. Billions of pennies, about 114 billion, are still circulating nationwide, according to the Treasury Department. No new ones will enter the mix, so this sets rules for cash buyers only, leaving cards, checks, and digital payments untouched. The sponsor, Representative Norman Crowe from Tuscaloosa, says it ensures fair reimbursement for cash users. But Representative Mary Moore from Birmingham cast the only no vote, worried it could squeeze low-income folks who rely on every cent. Under the plan, totals ending in one or two cents round, down to the prior nickel ending in zero, like one dollar and one cent becoming one dollar, even. Three or four cents round up to five cents, six or seven down to five, and eight or nine

1:04up to the next zero. Exact zero or five cents stay the same. The measure now heads to the Senate, where lawmakers return from break on March 31st to take it up.