The bill would create new law by adding identical new sections to chapter 82.08 RCW and chapter 82.12 RCW that require cash transactions to have the total price rounded to the nearest amount divisible by five cents: prices ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents are rounded down; prices ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents are rounded up. The rounding applies only when payment is made in legal tender (defined as all coins and currencies of the United States) and the rule explicitly does not apply to payments made by demand or negotiable instrument, electronic fund transfer, money order, credit card, debit card, electronic payment, or similar instruments. The bill defines "total price" as the final amount due after taxes, fees, discounts, and adjustments, and defines "transaction" as the entire purchase by a buyer from a seller at the date and time shown on an invoice or receipt, which may include one or multiple items. The bill directs an unspecified department to adopt rules governing transactions paid partly with legal tender and partly with another form of payment. The extracted text shows the bill was read for the first time on 01/20/26 and referred to the Committee on Business, Trade & Economic Development. Important details are not included in the provided text: the specific department required to adopt rules is not identified, no RCW section numbers for the new provisions are given, no effective date or implementation timeline is provided, and no enforcement mechanisms, penalties, or interactions with existing provisions in the cited chapters are stated.

If enacted, cash purchases in Washington would have their final totals rounded to the nearest five cents after taxes and discounts, so customers paying with coins or bills could pay a few cents more or less than the unrounded total; electronic and card payments would not be affected. Retailers and other sellers who accept cash will need to change how they finalize sales, train staff, and communicate the change to customers, and mixed cash-plus-card payments will await rules from an unspecified state department, creating short-term uncertainty about how to handle split payments. The people most affected are cash-paying customers and businesses that handle many cash transactions, particularly small retailers and service providers, who may see small cumulative gains or losses and incur modest administrative or training costs to adjust procedures. The bill text does not identify which department will issue rules, give an effective date, or explain enforcement or penalties, so the timing and exact compliance requirements remain unclear.