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Market Watch/WSJ PR: "CCAGW Supports COINS Act in Senate"

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From Market Watch.com.......

CCAGW Supports COINS Act in Senate

Jan. 31, 2012, 2:36 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) expressed its support for Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and John McCain's (R-Ariz.) Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (COINS) Act of 2012. This bipartisan bill will phase out the $1 note and transition to the $1 coin.

On March 4, 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting the substantial benefits of discontinuing $1 notes in favor of $1 coins. This money-saving idea has been touted by CAGW in its annually-updated Prime Cuts database for years. According to the GAO, phasing out the $1 note and increasing circulation of the $1 coin would save taxpayers an average of $184 million annually and a total of $5.5 billion over the next 30 years.

Most of the cost savings associated with coins comes from their comparative durability. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces approximately 3.4 billion $1 bills each year, each of which costs 4.2 cents to manufacture and lasts 40 months. By comparison, the $1 coin costs between 12 and 20 cents but has a lifespan of 30 years or more. The $1 coin also saves money because it is cheaper to handle and process. Mass transit agencies have found that processing $1 coins costs 83 percent less than processing $1 bills. Other benefits include savings on the processing of money by banks and businesses. Coins cost 30 cents per thousand pieces to process at Federal Reserve Banks, compared to 75 cents per thousand for $1 notes. Large-scale private-sector users reap even more savings. Coins are also much more difficult to counterfeit.

The GAO report points out that "Over the last 47 years, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain, and the UK, among others, have replaced lower-denomination notes with coins ... Canadian officials later determined that the Canadian government saved $450 million (Canadian) between 1987 and 1991."

"Sens. Harkin and McCain's legislation to phase out the $1 bill in favor of the $1 coin should be an easy decision for elected officials in Washington, who are looking everywhere for ways to reduce the record deficit and debt," said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. All votes on the COINS Act will be among those considered in CCAGW's 2012 Congressional Ratings.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

SOURCE: Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

http://www.marketw*tch.com/story/ccagw-supports-coins-act-in-senate-2012-01-31(substitute a for * - naughty word alert!)

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