Legislation requiring the state government to accept cash payments is making its way through the Michigan House.
State Representative Brad Paquette tells us the bill would amend the Management and Budget Act to require state agencies that accept payment for any reason to always have a cash option, and with no additional fee. Paquette says this is just a safeguard against trends we’re seeing in just about everything.
“We’re moving toward a cashless society,” Paquette said. “Everything’s pointing that direction. With AI and kiosks, we want to make sure that cash is always going to be accepted by the state of Michigan. Especially when we have swipe fees that are taking a percentage out of every dollar every single day and credit card companies make big bucks off that. I’ve got a lot of people that really, really want to keep cash.”
Paquette says this is a precaution to ensure Michigan always remains a cash accepting government.
The legislation received testimony in a House committee last week and he says he knows of no opposition to it thus far. It’s estimated that if the bill becomes law, it would have no financial impact on the state.
