Require retail merchants to give customers the option to pay cash

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
S. B. No. 30

2025-2026

Senators Blessing, Ingram

Cosponsors: Senators Chavez, Craig,
Smith, Wilkin, Cutrona

A
BILL

To
enact section 1333.97 of the Revised Code
to
require retail merchants to give customers the option to pay by cash.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 1333.97 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
1333.97.
(A)
As used in this section, "at retail" includes any retail
transaction conducted in person and excludes any telephone, mail, or
internet-based transaction.

(B)
A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at retail
shall not require a buyer to pay using credit or prohibit cash as
payment. A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at
retail shall accept cash when offered by the buyer as payment.

(C)
A violation of division (B) of this section is an unfair or deceptive
act or practice in violation of section 1345.02 of the Revised Code.
A person injured by a violation of division (B) of this section has a
cause of action and is entitled to the same relief available to a
consumer under section 1345.09 of the Revised Code. All powers and
remedies available to the attorney general to enforce sections
1345.01 to 1345.13 of the Revised Code are available to the attorney
general to enforce division (B) of this section.

(D)
This section does not apply to any of the following:

(1)
A person selling goods or services at an airport, if at least two
persons selling food in the same terminal accept cash as payment;

(2)
A parking facility owned by a municipal corporation, regardless of
whether the facility is operated by the municipal corporation or
another entity;

(3)
A parking facility that accepts mobile payment, if the facility does
not accept payment by any means other than mobile payment;

(4)
A company in the business of renting motor vehicles, if the company
accepts a cashier's check or a certified check when offered by a
buyer as payment;

(5)
A sports or entertainment venue with a seating capacity of ten
thousand or more irrespective of the event held at the venue;

(6)
A retail establishment that possesses and allows customers to use a
device that converts cash into a prepaid card that a customer can use
to complete a transaction at the retail establishment if all of the
following apply:

(a)
There is no fee for converting cash into the prepaid card.

(b)
There is no fee for using the prepaid card.

(c)
A minimum deposit greater than five dollars is not required to obtain
the prepaid card.

(d)
The customer is given the option of obtaining a receipt indicating
the amount of cash the customer deposited onto the prepaid card.

(e)
The prepaid card is not subject to an expiration date or a limit on
the number of transactions for which it may be used.