Government Contractors No Longer Need to Accept and Dispense Sacajaweas

Did you know that there is a clause in most Government contracts that require contractors involved in business operations (including vending machines) on any premises owned by the United States or under control of any agency  or instrumentality of the United States to be fully capable of:

1. accepting $1 coins in connection with such operations; and
2. dispensing $1 coins in connection with such operations

Why is it there? Because in 2007, Congress passed a law designed to remove barriers to the circulation of $1 coins. As part of that law, Congress made it mandatory for any business operating on Government premises to accept and dispense $1 coins, hence the FAR clause.

The Section 809 Panel, a congressionally mandated panel to streamline and improve the acquisition process by identifying and eliminating outdated acquisition provisions, made a recommendation to eliminate the requirement because the intention of the Act was to increase circulation of the $1 coin and was not directly related to agencies' missions. 

Congress acted on the Section 809 Panel's recommendation as part of the 2018 NDAA and exempted contractors, when performing under a Government contractor, for the requirements to accept and dispense $1 coins.

This week, the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) councils acted and removed the requirements from FAR (Parts 37.116 and 52.212-5). 

Well, that's one useless regulation out of the way. Hopefully, Congress will begin adopting many of the other recommendations of the Section 809 Panel.