A proposal from Long Beach’s congressman to phase out the penny just took a major step forward. The bill has passed the House of Representatives and will now head to the U.S. Senate for another round of voting.
If the bill passes and is ultimately signed into law, existing pennies in circulation would remain legal tender, but the one-cent coins would no longer be minted. Non-cash transactions such as credit cards, debit cards, mobile payments, and checks would not be affected.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, has been pushing the idea as the cost of metals has steadily increased.
“We should stop making a coin that costs nearly four times more than it’s worth to produce,” Garcia said. “At a time when we should be focused on improving government efficiency, ending penny production is an obvious place to start.”
Garcia says the bill, named the Common Cents Act, aims to increase efficiency for both consumers and businesses by eliminating waste. Under the legislation, businesses would have the option to round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents. To give consumers and businesses enough time to adapt, the act’s provisions would take effect one year after it’s passed.
The bipartisan bill was introduced by Garcia and Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) in Apr 2025, and on Jul 14, 2026, was passed through the House by voice vote. Now, the bill will head to the Senate, where a committee will go through a similar voting process, and if it passes, it will go to the President to be vetoed or signed into law.
“Washington has a spending problem, and it shows up in places big and small,” said McClain. “If the federal government is spending more to make a penny than the penny is worth, something is broken.”
The penny’s production cost has exceeded its face value for the 20th consecutive fiscal year, according to the U.S. Mint, and the nickel suffers from the same predicament, with its production costing nearly three times its value.
This bill has also introduced the option for the Treasury to test a redesigned, lower-cost nickel that must still ensure it saves money while continuing to work in vending machines.
The push to eliminate the penny in the U.S. comes after decades in which other countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, have successfully eliminated their respective one-cent coins to increase government efficiency.