MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — As Presidents Day reminds us of the leaders on our currency, one familiar face is set to vanish from coins in the coming years. Abraham Lincoln's penny is disappearing as the U.S. Treasury stops making new ones, prompting Tennessee lawmakers to consider how businesses should handle the transition.
At Domenico's Deli in Murfreesboro, owner Jeff Murphy still sees plenty of cash transactions despite the rise of card payments.
"It's not a bigger percentage than people who use cards, but we definitely get a large amount that get cash and want the change," Murphy said.
But with no new pennies being minted, Murphy faces uncertainty about how to make change in a few years when existing pennies run out.
"For now, we're still operating with pennies at both locations," Murphy said.
The Tennessee Legislature is considering a bill that would provide businesses with guidelines for rounding cash transactions. Rep. Charlie Baum (R-Murfreesboro) is sponsoring the legislation.
"It's permissive for a business to round to the nearest nickel," Baum said during debate last week.
The proposed rounding system would work as follows: amounts ending in two cents or less would round down, three to five cents would round up to the nearest nickel, six cents would round down to the nickel, and seven cents or more would round up to the nearest dime.
The rounding wouldn't be mandatory, but businesses that choose to adopt it would receive legal protection.
"The reason is it will provide private companies with safe harbor under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977," Baum said. "That's because companies can say we're adopting a rounding procedure that's in Tennessee code, so we're not liable."
Murphy supports the proposed guidelines, saying they provide clarity for business owners navigating the transition.
"Having some guidelines helps, because you don't really know what to do, what not to do," Murphy said.
He plans to continue accepting cash payments, partly to help his businesses and the others that he and his family support, avoid credit card processing fees. "I know how much businesses pay in credit card fees -- so I want to give us much of that money back to local businesses that we shop in town rather than swiping the card," Murphy said.
The proposed rule changes would only apply to cash transactions, not card payments. According to the US Treasury, it will take several years for pennies to completely disappear from circulation.
We'll keep you posted on whether this legislation passes this session.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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