Call it “common cents” — replacing $1 bills with $1 coins would save the federal government billions of dollars.
That’s what Lorelai St. James, a director at the Government Accountability Office, said she’ll report at Thursday’s Congressional hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.
While the GAO estimated that it would cost about $500 million during the first 10 years of the switch, the government would save $4.4 billion over 30 years, in part because coins last longer than paper money, significantly lowering printing costs.
“The benefit to the federal government that we’re talking about is that costs are frontloaded and the benefits are backloaded,” St. James told POLITICO. “We have recommended that in order to make this work that the [dollar bill] would have to be removed. They could slowly remove it, but that’s probably the biggest barrier.”
This is the sixth time the GAO has reviewed the issue within the last 22 years. The effort hasn’t had much success in part because public opinion seems to favor keeping the bill, St. James said.
