HOUSE BILL: The Currency of Atlasia Act (Passed - Sent to VP/PPT)

[OneJ]

Thank you.

It is my duty to introduce to y'all this bill which officially establishes a currency system within the Republic of Atlasia in order for citizens to engage in everyday actions.

[OneJ]

My main objection is that this limits the ability of the federal reserve to print higher notes should future inflation require higher notes. I guess they could appeal to the legislature, but we'd almost certainly move slower than financially optimal.

The only other quibbles I can think of are that this kills the $2 bill (which is a thing), and that this takes away the power to make $1 coins.

Sorry about that everyone I couldn't get to you all sooner.

The bill originally written is the baseline and I should've added that some other forms of currency could be produced as well if the federal reserve requests to do so.

[OneJ]

First off, I'd like to propose this amendment:

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Polymer banknotes are cleaner, safer and more durable than paper notes and I feel that this opportunity should be used to move Atlasia towards the polymer banknotes. I've added a clause that will allow for current dollar bills to remain legal tender for two years following this bill going into affect to allow for the transition to occur.

I echo the concerns raised by Dereich about limiting the federal reserve the ability to print higher domination banknotes, should it be required in the future. Although, I recognise that this bill could be amended to allow for that to happen.

Clyde's amendment receives friendly feedback from me.

[OneJ]

Love the idea of polymer banknotes - aside from the longer shelf life it would definitely make counterfeiting much more difficult.

That aside, this bill needs to allow for more flexibility as Dereich mentioned. I think there should be a provision that allows the BEP to print and coin other denominations than those listed here at their own discretion. Having the legislature amend the bill every time we want to add a 50¢ coin or $2 bill would just make it cumbersome.

Perhaps we could have the best of both worlds; the BEP is allowed to do runs of other denominations, but these must be limited in duration without legislative approval. I suppose it'd be like the effect of the War Powers Act on presidential ability to wage war. In general, they'd be limited to the denominations in the statute  but would have some flexibility for unexpected problems or some anniversary that called for another denomination.

Ah, okay. I do indeed see now that clarification of the BEP being allowed to add other denominations if they feel the need to do so should be added in an effort for more flexibility and better understanding.

[OneJ]

I propose the following amendment as the previous one had no objection:

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[OneJ]

Alright then. If everyone else agrees with tossing the penny out, I will propose an amendment.

[OneJ]

But I was discussing this with Governor NeverAgain before you moved on with the amendment. That's why I didn't put it up.

Now Gov. NeverAgain has some good points on why the penny should stay such as the following (a few of his strongest points, IMO):
-Rounding: For example, when you take away the penny, you won't see prices like $1.99 anymore. Instead, you may see $3.95 or $4.00. However, as we all know, businesses are more likely to charge $4.00 to get some of that extra guap. It could hurt, although it would probably be insignificant.
-Zinc Industry: Like Governor NeverAgain said, there would be a loss of jobs if we don't include the penny. He pretty much explained it too.

But here are some pretty good counterarguments:
-The cost of making the penny: During the year of 2016, the penny's cost to produced rose to 1.5 cents which is actually costs more than its own worth.
-Bad for the environment: Pennies are made of mostly zinc. Actually more than 97% zinc. 2.5% is metal content. According to the Enviromental Protection Agency, zinc ores contain anywhere from 3-11% metallic zinc. Zinc contains other metals that are actually toxic such as cadmium and lead. Those metals in the mines contaminate the soil, plant life, and water. A lot of energy is also required. You have to extract the energy from the ore, roll it out and stamp onto the coins, and then transport those coins to the banks. DesignLife-Cycle.org, a site created by students of the University of California, calculated that just transporting the pennies to the banks - not even including any other stages of production - actually releases 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every year.

[OneJ]

Would any of you like to draw up ideas on who should be on each denomination (whether it be in real life or in Atlasia)?