[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2049 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2049

   To improve the circulation of $1 coins, to remove barrier to the 
           circulation of such coins, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2012

    Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Coburn, and Mr. Enzi) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the circulation of $1 coins, to remove barrier to the 
           circulation of such coins, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Currency Optimization, Innovation, 
and National Savings Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING CIRCULATION AND REMOVING BARRIERS TO CIRCULATION OF 
              $1 COINS.

    (a) Duties of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System.--
            (1) Coin sequestration.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors 
                of the Federal Reserve System shall sequester all $1 
                coins bearing the design common to those $1 coins 
                minted and issued from 1979-1981 and again in 1999.
                    (B) Treatment of coins.--Coins sequestered pursuant 
                to subparagraph (A) shall not be returned to ordinary 
                circulation or otherwise released form storage 
                controlled by the Federal Reserve System or an agent of 
                the Federal Reserve System.
                    (C) Exception for certain uses.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraph (B), coins sequestered pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) may be released, at face value and in 
                bulk quantities--
                            (i) to dealers in collectible coins; and
                            (ii) to countries that have adopted the 
                        United States dollar as their base unit of 
                        exchange.
                    (D) Obsolete coins.--At the end of the 1-year 
                period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
                the Secretary of the Treasury shall declare all coins 
                described under subparagraph (A) to be obsolete, and 
                such coins--
                            (i) shall be treated in the same manner as 
                        all other obsolete United States coins; and
                            (ii) to the extent that such coins remain 
                        in general circulation, shall remain legal 
                        tender.
            (2) Quarterly report on $1 coins.--The Board of Governors 
        of the Federal Reserve System shall issue quarterly reports to 
        the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs of the Senate on--
                    (A) the number of coins sequestered pursuant to 
                paragraph (1)(A);
                    (B) the number of coins described in paragraph 
                (1)(A) that remain in general circulation; and
                    (C) efforts that have been made to reduce the 
                number of coins described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
                to zero.
            (3) Improvement of circulation.--The Board of Governors of 
        the Federal Reserve System shall--
                    (A) undertake efforts to improve the circulation 
                and remove barriers to the circulation of the $1 coin, 
                other than those coins described under paragraph 
                (1)(A);
                    (B) issue a quarterly report to the Committee on 
                Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 
                the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
                the Senate on--
                            (i) what efforts have been made to improve 
                        the circulation of $1 coins and what efforts 
                        are being planned to improve the circulation of 
                        $1 coins;
                            (ii) the success of such efforts, including 
                        an analysis of such coins held in storage owned 
                        or controlled by the Federal Reserve System and 
                        the number such coins in circulation;
                            (iii) barriers to the circulation of such 
                        coins, including the availability of such coins 
                        in quantities unmixed with the $1 coins 
                        described in paragraph (1)(A); and
                            (iv) the extent to which the Federal 
                        Reserve System and any agents of the Federal 
                        Reserve System are unable to meet end-user 
                        requests for delivery of unmixed quantities of 
                        such coins in whatever form such end user 
                        requires, including rolls, disposable tubes, or 
                        volume bags of such coins.
            (4) Outreach and education.--The Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System shall, within existing programs, 
        continuously conduct outreach and education programs aimed at 
        helping each business using or accepting cash to choose the 
        best mix of $1 coins and banknotes to facilitate transactions 
        and reduce costs of transactions and of ``cashing out'' at the 
        end of a transaction period.
            (5) Use of $1 coins by foreign countries.--The Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall work with the 
        Departments of State and Treasury to ensure that countries that 
        have adopted the dollar as a base unit of exchange and which 
        place orders with the Federal Reserve System, or through any 
        United States financial institution, for supplies of $1 
        monetary units, are fully briefed before placing each such 
        order on the durability and longevity of $1 coins in high-
        circulation economies when used for transactions of a low 
        dollar value.
    (b) Publicity Requirement.--Section 5112(p)(2) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after ``Mint'' the following: 
``and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System''.
    (c) Report on Implementation.--Not later than the end of the 1-year 
period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States and the 
Inspectors General of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection shall each issue a report to the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate on steps 
being taken by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to 
carry out this Act.
    (d) Clarification With Respect to Seigniorage.--The ninth proviso 
of section 5136 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after ``miscellaneous receipts'' the following: ``, and such 
amount shall be included as an estimated receipt of the Government and 
a receipt of the Government under paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively, 
of section 1105(a) in any budget submitted under such section''.

SEC. 3. SAVING TAXPAYERS FUNDS BY TRANSITIONING TO THE USE OF $1 COINS.

    (a) In General.--It is the policy of the United States that after 
$1 coins achieve sufficient market penetration such that consumers and 
retailers are comfortable using $1 coins and are able to obtain 
adequate supplies of $1 coins, $1 coins should replace $1 Federal 
Reserve notes as the only $1 monetary unit issued and circulated by the 
Federal Reserve System.
    (b) Deadline for Placing $1 Federal Reserve Notes Into 
Circulation.--Federal Reserve banks may continue to place into 
circulation $1 Federal Reserve notes until the earlier of--
            (1) the date on which the number of $1 coins placed into 
        circulation after the date of the enactment of this Act exceeds 
        600,000,000 annually; and
            (2) the date that is 4 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (c) Transition Period.--After the date referred to in subsection 
(b), a Federal Reserve bank may not order additional $1 Federal Reserve 
notes but may, for a period of one year, continue to place into 
circulation $1 Federal Reserve notes on hand or those deposited with 
it, except for notes described in subsection (d).
    (d) Removal of Unfit Currency.--After the date referred to in 
subparagraph (b), a Federal Reserve bank shall continue to remove unfit 
currency from circulation, and shall continue to destroy such currency.
    (e) Exception.--Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c), the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall produce such Federal 
Reserve notes of $1 denomination as the Board of Governors determines 
from time to time are appropriate solely to meet the needs of 
collectors of that denomination. Such notes shall be issued by 1 or 
more Federal Reserve banks in accordance with section 16 of the Federal 
Reserve Act and sold by the Board of Governors, in whole or in part, 
under procedures prescribed by the Board of Governors.
    (f) No Effect on Legal Tender.--Notwithstanding any other 
subsection of this section, $1 Federal Reserve notes are legal tender 
in the United States for all debts, public and private, public charges, 
taxes, and duties, regardless of the date of printing or issue.
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