United States officials are still trying to figure out a world without the penny.
This is where the Common Cents Act comes in: Recently approved by the Senate (although a similar motion passed through the House in July), this legislation would establish guidelines for businesses on how to round cash transactions without the use of the one cent coin.
The act dictates that any purchase ending in one, two, six or seven cents can be rounded down to the nearest amount divisible by five. Amounts ended in three, four, eight or nine cents will be rounded up.
But while looking to solve the change issues a penny-less shopping experience brings, Forbes points out that the Common Cents Act adds another fly to the ointment. Mainly, with regards to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries.
Here’s the crux of the issue: Say there’s a SNAP customer and a non-SNAP customer paying for the same item, which costs $10.02. The SNAP customer pays electronically using their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card, and — since the Common Cents Act doesn’t apply to electronic or check payments — pays the full $10.02 amount.
But the non-SNAP customer uses cash, meaning they only pay $10. Courthouse News states that this presents quite a problem as federal law dictates SNAP customers can’t be treated “differently’ from others.
“There’s no way to square that circle,” financial services partner at Holland. Knight, Chris Phillips, tells Courthouse News.
The Common Cents Act currently doesn’t have anything address SNAP-specific questions. Since separate motions were passed by both the House and the Senate, an identical bill must now clear both chambers in order to get President Donald Trump’s signature.
