Senator says put a woman on the $20 bill

Four candidates

Senator says put a woman on the $20 bill

The first woman to serve as both governor and U.S. senator is backing a campaign to put a female face on the $20 bill.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, filed legislation this week that would create a citizens panel to recommend an appropriate choice to the treasury secretary. She is hoping to build on the work of Women on 20s, a campaign pushing for new $20 bills by 2020, the 100th anniversary of the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.

The portrait of former President Andrew Jackson has stared out from the face of the $20 since 1928. But paper currency is redesigned every seven to 10 years to thwart counterfeiters, and the latest $20 notes entered circulation in 2003.

Barbara Ortiz Howard founded Women on 20s last year to honor historic women by making them visible in everyday lives. The group compiled a list of 15 candidates for the $20 bill that was narrowed to four finalists after online voting: former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, leading abolitionist Harriet Tubman, civil rights icon Rosa Parks and former Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller.

Associated Press