On February 24, the United States Mint released the District of Columbia quarter, featuring jazz great Duke Ellington on the tails side. This is the first time that an African-American has been featured on a general circulation (non-commemorative) U.S. coin. The design had been the subject of controversy because the Mint rejected the District’s request that the coin include the motto “Taxation without Representation,” a reference to the fact that the 590,000 residents of D.C. pay taxes, but do not have a voting seat in Congress. The District of Columbia has a larger population than the state of Wyoming.
On the same day, the Senate voted 62-34 to debate a bill that would, for the first time, give the citizens of Washington, D.C., a voting seat in the House of Representatives. Republicans have always opposed such a plan because the population of D.C. is overwhelmingly Democratic. In order to appease the Republicans, the bill also adds a seat in heavily Republican Utah. However, it is unclear how this extra seat would be allocated after the 2010 census.