Penny bill, a hidden tax for cash customers

At first glance, House Bill 71 relating to rules for cash sales for pennies seems like a good idea.

According to a press release from Rep. Mike Yin (D-Jackson), sponsor of the bill, “The federal government stopped making pennies in November 2025. The Federal Reserve has also cut back on sending pennies to banks. This has left Wyoming stores slowly decreasing their access to pennies. Without clear rules, businesses and shoppers get different treatment at different stores.

“HB0071 uses the same rounding method that Canada has used since 2012: cash totals round to the nearest nickel. Over time, this evens out for both shoppers and stores.”

That all sounds really great right? I understand the premise — wanting uniformity, because too often there is not.

I thought this sounded good and reasonable, but the more I thought about it I realized I do not agree with Mr. Yin. I don’t believe it will even out for either the owner or the customer.

Here is the catch. In his release, “The bill only applies to cash sales when exact change is not available. It does not change anything for card payments, checks, or sales paid in exact change.”

So, to me as a customer, I view this bill as essentially an extra tax for those paying cash. I realize I may go to one store and it would be rounded down and the next store I would be charged the extra tax when it is rounded up.

Do I have the answer? I do not. Perhaps, we must leave it up to individual business owners, just as we do with credit card charges. Some businesses charge an extra fee for processing cards. That fee from what I have personally witnessed, can range from 3% to 6%. Some businesses, like the Northern Wyoming News and others in Worland, choose not to charge an extra fee for processing.

I do agree with one thing Yin stated, if and when businesses start rounding up or down, it should be posted at their business, just like businesses do with credit card fees.

One more thing I disagree with Yin about is a perceived shortage while admitting there is “about” 114 billion pennies still in circulation across the country (maybe more if we all clean our cushions in the car and the couch).

I have talked to a few businesses about the penny and those I have talked with laugh it off as something they are not concerned about as there seems to be a lot of pennies in their “have a penny leave a penny, need a penny, grab a penny” container at the register.

I do appreciate Mr. Yin being proactive and not reactive but I feel this bill addresses a non-issue.