Sen. John Kerry opposes a bill to phase out the $1 bill in favor of the coin version, which would endanger the Massachusetts company that provides the paper for the nation's currency.
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have long opposed making the coin the sole $1 product, citing its weight (just over 8 grams) and the public’s persistent attachment to paper currency. But Congress can mandate the end of the $1 bill, and the Dollar Coin Alliance is pressuring lawmakers to make the change.
The group has spent more than $390,000 lobbying Capitol Hill since December. Crane has spent only about $20,000 on federal lobbying this year, according to lobbying disclosure reports.
“At a time when the super committee is looking for everything they can find for savings, here is something that doesn’t cut Grandma’s program and doesn’t raise taxes,” said former GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona — the country’s largest supplier of copper, used in all U.S. coins. Kolbe introduced similar legislation at least five times throughout his career and now serves as a spokesman for the coalition. “The legislation by the two Massachusetts Senators ... is defiantly done with Crane paper in mind,” he added.
Correction: Sept. 27, 2011
An earlier version of this story misstated the co-sponsors of a bill that seeks to phase out the $1 bill.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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