Sponsors (213)
Official title: To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente.
Introduced March 3, 2025 by Adriano J. Espaillat · Last progress March 3, 2025
The bill honors Roberto Clemente and funds his foundation through limited-run commemorative coins—providing cultural recognition and collector benefits while balancing protections to avoid taxpayer subsidy, but imposing higher prices on buyers, administrative burdens on the Mint, and potential delays or concentrated private benefit to a single nonprofit.
Nonprofits named (especially the Roberto Clemente Foundation) will receive net proceeds to support education, youth sports, disaster relief, and historic preservation.
Taxpayers are protected because the Treasury must recover all minting and issuance costs (and may only disburse proceeds afterward), reducing the chance the public subsidizes the program.
Collectors and the public gain limited-run, high-quality commemorative coins honoring Roberto Clemente (legal tender, clear inscriptions, proof and uncirculated options produced in a single known issuance year), supporting numismatic interest and potential Mint revenue.
Buyers and collectors will pay higher prices because coins carry surcharges and purchasers must cover full issuance costs, making these commemoratives notably more expensive than face value.
If production, marketing, or administrative costs exceed sales revenue (or cost accounting is disputed), taxpayers could indirectly bear risk through lost Mint revenue, delays, or litigation-related costs.
Implementing the program creates measurable administrative burdens for the Mint and Treasury (design consultations, single‑year production pressure, cost accounting, surcharge tracking, audits), requiring staff time and resources.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes limited‑edition Roberto Clemente commemorative coins with specified designs, mintage limits, surcharges payable to the Roberto Clemente Foundation, and cost‑recovery rules.
Creates a commemorative coin program honoring Roberto Clemente and requires the U.S. Mint to produce specified gold, silver, and half-dollar coins in uncirculated and proof finishes. Coins must portray Clemente and elements of his life, carry set inscriptions, be sold at prices covering costs plus statutory surcharges, and the collected surcharges must be paid to the Roberto Clemente Foundation after the Mint recovers all program costs. Specifies minting limits and metal/content standards for three coin types, requires consultation with the Clemente family, Foundation, and art advisory bodies on design, limits issuance to calendar year 2027, and includes audit and cost‑recovery protections so the program imposes no net cost to the government.