The House unanimously passed a bill last week that would prohibit most sellers of goods and services from refusing cash as a payment option.

House Bill 299 would make it illegal for retail stores to ban the use of cash as payment for in-person transactions. It doesn’t affect purchases made over the internet, telephone or mail. The bill includes several changes requested by members of the business community in a hearing in March.

The bill’s primary House sponsor, Rep. Franklin Cooke, D- New Castle, said the legislation would ensure the rapid evolution in available payment methods wouldn’t leave some Delawareans — including seniors, teenagers, people experiencing homelessness, low-income residents and students — without a way to pay for critical items such as food and medicine. In addition, Cooke said, 5% Delaware residents are unbanked and another 15% are underbanked, meaning they lack any or enough access to banking services.

“If their local store doesn’t accept cash payments, they’re left without access to the goods they need,” Mr. Cooke said.

The bill would task the Division of Consumer Protection with enforcing its provisions. Companies that violate the measures would face escalating penalties for multiple infractions: Up to $1,000 for the first violation, up to $1,500 for the second and up to $2,500 for each violation after that.

An amendment that Mr. Cooke proposed — and which the House passed — addressed some concerns that business groups had raised in a March committee hearing.

As introduced, the bill would have allowed consumers who were not allowed to pay in cash to take the business in question to court for triple the damages caused by the violation. The amendment struck the right to private action. The version as passed by the House excludes transactions at sporting and entertainment events, including music festivals, from the prohibition on banning cash transactions.

The legislation must pass the Senate before heading to Gov. John Carney’s desk for his signature. It has been assigned to the Banking, Business and Insurance Committee. The Senate is in recess until Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

Mr. Cooke underlined the importance of cash with a personal anecdote about a recent visit to a theater in Middletown.

“Just the other night, I went to the movies down at Westown. They had a sign up — said ‘cash only.’ The credit machine wasn’t working. I couldn’t get no popcorn or soda,” Mr. Cooke said, to laughter in the chamber.