LANSING, Mich. – With the penny on its way out, a Michigan lawmaker wants to make sure shoppers aren’t getting shortchanged.
In 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Treasury to stop producing pennies, creating a growing shortage for retailers and consumers across the country.
A penny problem years in the making
According to the most recent U.S. Mint report, it costs roughly 3 cents to produce a single penny and more than 13 cents to make a nickel. Dimes and quarters, by comparison, cost less to manufacture than their face value.
Michigan retailers have been left to figure out the penny shortage on their own. Some are rounding up, some are rounding down, and others are unsure how to handle transactions that used to end in a cent or two.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin is drafting a bill that would clear up the confusion and favor consumers.
What the bill would do
Senate Bill 1014 would require businesses to round cash prices down to the nearest nickel after sales tax is applied.
Under the bill, a total of $1.04 would ring up as $1.00. A total of $1.06 would become $1.05.
The rounding rule would only apply to cash transactions.
Senate Bill 1014 was introduced in the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday, June 3, where it was referred to committee.
Where have all the pennies gone?
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, there are roughly 114 billion pennies currently in existence, but many of them aren’t in circulation.
Treasury officials say a large number are sitting in jars, in landfills and under couch cushions, going unused.
Some retailers say they are already running out of pennies and cannot source more.
The Federal Reserve has a simple message for anyone sitting on a stockpile: use them.
Keeping pennies in circulation for as long as possible helps ease the shortage while the nation transitions away from the one-cent coin.