Stark pitches new bill proposing notching billsCongressman says current currency hard for blind to identifyRep. Pete Stark introduced a bill Wednesday to whip U.S currency into shape — literally — by notching the corners of paper money so its readable by the blind and visually impaired.
All Americans should be able to recognize the denominations of paper currency, Stark, D-Fremont, said in a news release. But current bills are identical in size, which prevents millions of blind and visually impaired people from fully participating in our economy.
Starks Catherine Skivers Currency for All Act requires the U.S. Treasury to trim the corners of bills in a way that prevents fraud, with lower-value bills having more corners trimmed. The $1 bill would be trimmed on all four corners; the $2 bill on three corners; the $5 bill on two diagonal corners; the $10 bill on two corners on a long side; the $20 on two corners on a short side; and the $50 on one corner. The $100 bill will remain untrimmed.
Of more than 180 countries that issue their own banknotes, only the United States prints identical bills for every denomination.
A federal judge in New York found in November that the Treasury Department had violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by issuing paper currency that visually impaired individuals couldnt readily distinguish. The court ordered the government to make paper currency recognizable to the blind through the use of distinguishing tactile marks; the American Council for the Blind, which brought that lawsuit, had suggested various options including embossing, holes punched in the paper or using different-sized bills for different denominations. The Treasury Department has appealed the ruling, claiming a paper-money redesign would cost too much and could harm the vending-machine industry.
Starks bill is named for Hayward resident Catherine Skivers, a Stark constituent who is the California Council of the Blinds immediate past president and current legislative committee chairwoman.
She said Wednesday shes thrilled to have her name on the bill, especially on such an important issue. ... We really need this currency so we know what we have. Im just so thankful to Pete Stark for doing it.
Production of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills stopped during World War II, and the Federal Reserve Banks since 1969 have been removing them from circulation.
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