Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 - Requires the one-cent coin (except for Lincoln Bicentennial Numismatic Pennies) to be produced primarily of steel and treated to impart a copper color to its appearance similar to one-cent coins produced of a copper-zinc alloy.
Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in the alternative, during the 90 days following enactment of this Act, to add any other element to any alloy of zinc and copper of which one-cent coins could have been composed before enactment of this Act, if during such 90-day period another element is determined to help produce one-cent coins of the same diameter, general composition, and general weight, but at a lower unit cost. Requires a prompt report to Congress if such a determination is made.
Directs the Secretary, two years after enactment of this Act, to produce only five-cent coins primarily made of steel with a coating of nickel, unless by that time the unit cost of production of existing five-cent coins is lower than their face value. Requires the Secretary, however, to recommend a different metallic content of circulating five-cent coins if any biennial report to Congress, required by this Act, indicates that such a different metallic content is both functional and interchangeable with existing coins, and more economical to produce in both the short and long term.
Authorizes the Secretary, in order to accomplish the goals of this Act, to research, develop, evaluate or begin to use new metallic material for circulating coin production.
Requires the Secretary to report biennially to specified congressional committees on the production costs for each circulating coin, cost trends, and possible new metallic materials or technologies for the production of circulating coins, with detailed recommendations for any appropriate changes to the metallic content of circulating coins.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 5512 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5512
To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the weights and
the compositions of circulating coins, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 28, 2008
Mr. Space (for himself, Mr. Gutierrez, and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the weights and
the compositions of circulating coins, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Coin Modernization and Taxpayer
Savings Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) International demand along with market speculation for
commodity metals has, over the past several years, increased
the cost of producing circulating coins in the United States.
(2) In a July 30, 2007, letter to Congress, the Department
of the Treasury, with support of the Administration's Office of
Management and Budget, requested that legislation be put
forward to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to make
changes to the composition of circulating coins.
(3) The United States Mint has studied alternative metals
for use in circulating coins, as noticed in its 2004 annual
report.
(4) In 1943, the United States Mint produced zinc-coated
steel pennies in response to war-time demands for copper.
(5) The United States Mint gained further experience
changing the metal content of pennies in 1982, when it began
producing copper-coated zinc pennies as a result of rising
copper prices.
(6) The Royal Canadian Mint has produced for several years
a copper-coated steel 1-cent coin that is similar to the United
States penny at a significantly lower cost than the cost to
produce the United States penny.
(7) Given the current cost to make a penny and volume of
pennies minted, by simply reducing penny production costs to
face value, the United States will save nearly $600,000,000
dollars in the next 10 years alone.
(8) Removing the statutory language that requires specific
weights and content for circulating coins will allow the
Secretary of the Treasury to make adjustments to any
circulating coin when rising metal prices makes its production
costs prohibitive, which will create additional future savings
to the government.
(9) Commodity metal prices are often cyclical in nature,
and can be inflated by speculation, so it is important that a
solid trend in the rising price of a commodity metal be
established before any change in the metal content of a coin is
made.
(10) Congress has delegated the authority to coin money to
the Secretary of the Treasury since 1792.
(11) Congress has additionally delegated authority to the
Secretary of the Treasury to determine the composition of some
coins.
(12) The United States $1 Coin Act of 1997 (31 U.S.C. 5101
nt.) delegated to the Secretary the authority to determine the
composition of the dollar coin.
(13) In Public Law 93-441, Congress gave the Secretary the
authority to determine the weights and alloys of the copper and
zinc in 1-cent coins.
SEC. 3. WEIGHTS AND COMPOSITIONS OF CIRCULATING COINS.
(a) Weight and Composition of Circulating Coins Determined by the
Secretary.--Subsection (c) of section 5112 of title 31, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Weight and Composition of Coins.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall prescribe the weight
and the composition of the dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar,
dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent coins. The coins shall be coined,
minted and materials fabricated in the United States.
``(2) Factors to be considered.--In prescribing the weight
and the composition of the dollar, half dollar, quarter dollar,
dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent coins, the Secretary shall consider--
``(A) factors relevant to the potential impact of
any revisions to the weight and composition of the
material on the current coin suppliers;
``(B) factors relevant to the acceptability of new
coinage materials, including the effect on vending
machines and commercial coin processing equipment;
making certain any new coins work without interruption
in existing coin acceptance equipment without
modification; and
``(C) such other factors that the Secretary, in
consultation with merchants who would be affected by
any change in the weight and composition of currency
denominations, vending machine and other coin acceptor
manufacturers, vending machine owners and operators,
transit officials, municipal parking officials,
depository institutions, coin and currency handlers,
armored-car operators, car wash operators, and
American-owned manufacturers of commercial coin
processing equipment, considers to be appropriate and
in the public interest, in accordance with subchapter
II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code.
``(3) Comment and selection process.--In making any
determination with respect to any change in the weight and
composition of any coin, the Secretary shall enter into a
formal rulemaking process.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 5112(a) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and weighs
11.34 grams'';
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and weighs 5.67
grams'';
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and weighs
2.268 grams'';
(D) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and weighs 5
grams''; and
(E) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the
following new paragraph:
``(6) A 1-cent coin that is 0.75 inch in diameter.''.
(2) Section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(b) Specifications for $1 Coins and Gold Coins.--The $1 coin
shall be golden in color, have a distinctive edge, have tactile and
visual features that make the denomination of the coin readily
discernible, be coined, be minted and material fabricated in the United
States, and have similar metallic, anti-counterfeiting properties as
United States coinage in circulation on the date of enactment of the
United States $1 Coin Act of 1997. In minting gold coins, the Secretary
shall use alloys that vary not more than 0.1 percent from the percent
of gold required. The specifications for alloys are by weight.''.
(3) Section 5113(a) of title 31, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) in the 1st sentence, by striking ``and dime
coins'' and inserting ``dime, 5-cent, and 1-cent
coins.''; and
(B) by striking the second and third sentences.
(c) Effective Dates.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
amendments made by this section as it pertains to each
individual coin, other than subsection (b)(1)(E), shall take
effect at the end of the fiscal year which is the 5th of 5
sequential fiscal years in each of which the net cost of
producing such circulating coins under section 5112 of title
31, United States Code, other than the 1-cent coin, has
exceeded the total face value of such coin.
(2) 1-cent coin.--The amendments made by this section, to
the extent such amendments relate to the 1-cent coin, shall
take effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
subject to the amendment made by section 4.
SEC. 4. IMMEDIATE REDUCTION IN THE COST OF PRODUCING PENNIES THROUGH
THE USE OF STEEL PENNIES.
Subsection (c) of section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, (as
amended by section 3(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) Interim steel 1-cent coin.--
``(A) In general.--During the period beginning 180
days after the date of the enactment of the Coin
Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 and
ending on the effective date of any subsequent change
by the Secretary of the composition of the 1-cent coin
under paragraph (1), the 1-cent coin shall--
``(i) be produced primarily of steel; and
``(ii) meet such other specifications as
the Secretary may determine to be appropriate,
including any change in the weight from that
specified in subsection (a)(6).
``(B) Treatment.--The 1-cent coin shall be treated
to impart a copper color to the appearance of the coins
so that the appearance is similar to 1-cent coins
produced of a copper-zinc alloy.
``(C) Exception for lincoln bicentennial numismatic
pennies.--No provision of this paragraph shall apply
with respect to 1-cent coins described in section 304
of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 that are issued
for numismatic purposes.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Mr. Gutierrez moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3096-3099)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5512.
At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Carter objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H3203-3204)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR 5/6/2008 H3096-3097)
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On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR 5/6/2008 H3096-3097)
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.