The redesign of the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman on the face of it will not be released in 2020, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday.
The reveal had been timed to happen alongside the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Mnuchin noted that the design process has been delayed and nothing new would be unveiled until the year 2028.
“The main reason why we have looked at redesigning the currency is regarding counterfeiting issues,” Mnuchin announced in response to questions asked by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., during a hearing before the Committee of the House of Financial Services. “Based on this, the $20 bill will not come out until the year 2028. The new $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out before the $20 bill.”
The Tubman design was announced by former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in 2016, following a 10-month long process in which the department wanted to know the input and acceptance of the public.
“The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was supported by thousands of responses we received from different age groups of Americans,” Lew informed at that time. He said that the was surprised by the fact that many children commented by saying that Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure to them, but an actual role model for leadership and participation in making the country democratic.
President Donald Trump, months before he was elected, said the decision to put Harriet Tubman on the dollar was “pure political correctness” and suggested the use of her portrait on the $2 bill.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, introduced a new bill earlier this year that would direct the Treasury to print Harriet Tubman’s portrait on all the new $20 bills starting in the year 2021. The companion bill was sponsored by Reps. Elijah Cummings, and John Katko, in the House of Representatives.
In a statement, Shaheen had said that this delay would send an unmistakable message to women and girls, and communities of color, who were promised that they would see Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
Shareen had said that our currency tells the country’s story and that we are already late to honor the contributions of Harriet Tubman, the needless dragging of this effort is not acceptable.
The Women on the campaign, which has been advocating for Tubman’s appearance on the $20 bill, announced in a statement that they are not surprised that Secretary Mnuchin may be delaying the design reveal of the $20 bill to sometimes beyond the potential interference of a Trump presidency.
The group wrote that it hopes that Congress will act on Shaheen’s bill and at least show us a Tubman bill design in time for the centennial of the 19th Amendment in 2020. As we they have been saying for years that symbols do matter.
