Massachusetts Consumer Panel Hears Penny-Rounding and Tariff Disclosure Bills

BOSTON — April 15, 2026 — Massachusetts legislative panel considers penny-rounding rules and tariff disclosure as business groups mobilize. The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, co-chaired by Representative Tackey Chan and Senator Pavel M. Payano, heard testimony April 15 on two bills: House Bill 5138, which would require cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest five or ten cents following the Treasury Department's decision last November to halt penny production, and House Bill 5036, which would mandate retailer disclosure of tariff costs on consumer goods. Senator Paul Feeney, the bill's co-sponsor, said the penny phase-out has created "confusion for consumers" and businesses alike, with retailers improvising their own ad hoc rounding policies. Bill Rennie of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, which counts about 4,000 members statewide, backed H5138 but urged the committee to change mandatory "shall" language to permissive "may" to accommodate customers who carry exact change. Bob Okinowski of the Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association, representing 427 franchised dealerships and more than 25,000 workers, called H5036's tariff-disclosure requirement "impossible" to calculate given the thousands of internationally sourced parts in any given vehicle. Chan told testifiers to expect a committee decision in roughly 30 to 60 days.