For The Media

Americans Support Savings from Elimination of the $1 Bill

Washington, D.C. (October 19, 2011) The Dollar Coin Alliance, a coalition of small businesses, budget watchdogs, transit agencies and labor groups, is questioning the results of a poll conducted by Lincoln Park Strategies on behalf of the “Americans for George” coalition about public acceptance of $1 coins. While the poll finds that Americans favor the $1 note, it critically does not mention the estimated taxpayer savings in making the switch. Multiple past polls have shown that, when made aware of government savings, the public favors a dollar coin transition by a significant margin.

“This is a Washington classic – a coalition poll designed to generate a pre-determined result,” said former Congressman Jim Kolbe, honorary chairman of the Dollar Coin Alliance. “The truth is, when Americans understand that billions of dollars would be saved by making this simple switch, support becomes a no-brainer.”

A January 2011 poll conducted by the bipartisan pairing of the Tarrance Group with Hart Research Associates, found that Americans favor the transition to a dollar coin by a two-to-one margin once the potential government savings are explained. This is consistent with findings from a 2002 Gallup survey cited by the Government Accountability Office. In that poll, 55 percent of respondents said they would favor replacing the dollar note with the dollar coin once savings were highlighted.

“We recognize there may be some initial hesitation in changing the currency, but, now more than ever, this switch is common sense” added Congressman Kolbe. “Once the facts are known, the argument flips. We strongly reject the idea the American taxpayer is opposed to saving the government money.”

A March 2011 report by the nonpartisan GAO found that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted each year by the continued production of the $1 bill. The report, “Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin Would Provide a Financial Benefit to the Government,” demonstrated that a full transition would save the government an average of $184 million per year and approximately $5.5 billion over a 30 year period. Using more traditional assumptions in their analysis, savings could be as high as $11.1 billion. This was the fifth report the GAO has issued on the benefits of transitioning to the dollar coin, dating back to 1990. Estimates of annual cost savings in previous reports have been as high as $522 million.

Congressman David Schweikert recently introduced the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (COINS) Act (H.R. 2977), a bill to modernize the nation’s currency system by eliminating the $1 note – a change virtually every country in the world has made in the past several decades to reduce waste. The COINS Act would require Federal Reserve Banks to stop issuing the $1 note four years after enactment of the legislation or when circulation of $1 coins exceeds 600 million annually – whichever comes first. This measure is necessary based on the experience of every country that has successfully transitioned to a low denomination coin. As the GAO reported, eliminating the dollar note was “essential to the success of [the] transition” to dollar coins in other countries.

The Dollar Coin Alliance is a coalition of American small businesses, budget watchdogs, trade associations and labor organizations with a singular focus of moving the United States toward an economical, environmentally friendly dollar coin. Members include Citizens Against Government Waste, the International Association of Machinists, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Tri-State Automatic Merchandising Council and United Steelworkers.

For more information, or to get involved, please visit www.DollarCoinAlliance.org.

Dollar Coin Alliance Mission Statement

The Dollar Coin Alliance is dedicated to saving American taxpayers billions of dollars by transitioning to a one dollar coin. We are focused on educating taxpayers and policy-makers about the benefits of increasing dollar coin circulation. We believe the dollar coin will yield cost savings to American businesses and consumers, smaller environmental impact, assistance to the visually impaired and improved national commerce.