To amend title 31, United States Code, to save the American taxpayers money by immediately altering the metallic composition of the 1-cent coin, to require a prompt review and report, with recommendations, for cost-saving changes in the metallic content of other circulating United States coins, and for other purposes.

Summary: Cents and Sensibility Act - Revises the discretionary authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe the weight and the composition of the alloy of the one-cent coin.

Requires that the one-cent coin be: (1) produced primarily of steel; and (2) treated to impart a copper color to its appearance so that the appearance is similar to one-cent coins produced of a copper-zinc alloy.

Exempts from such requirement certain Lincoln Bicentennial numismatic pennies.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to certain congressional committees on a unified plan to change the metallic content of the five-cent, ten-cent, quarter-dollar and half-dollar circulating coins so as to return the ratios between the unit cost to produce such coins and their face value to a point where it is as close as possible to the historic production-cost-to-face-value ratios achieved in the 1980s.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be known as the ``Cents and Sensibility Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States Mint, in its 2001 annual report, 
        announced that it was studying alternative metals for use in 
        circulating coins, but has never released the study publicly or 
        delivered it to Congress.
            (2) In May, 2006, the United States Mint delivered 
        communications to the Congress indicating that the cost to 
        produce circulating coins had increased dramatically owing to 
        worldwide demand for commodity metals, to the point where--
                    (A) the price to produce 1-cent and 5-cent coins 
                had or soon would surpass the face value of such coins; 
                and
                    (B) the cost to produce the 10-cent and quarter-
                dollar coins, while not exceeding their face value, had 
                increased dramatically.
            (3) Such cost increases alone, while minimal per individual 
        coins, taken together could increase the cost to taxpayers 
        $1,000,000,000 or more over a decade.
            (4) In spite of having communicated the information 
        concerning this costly dilemma, neither the Secretary of the 
        Treasury or the Director of the United States Mint has made any 
        recommendation for changing the metallic content of circulating 
        coins in order to reduce the cost to produce such coins and 
        thus control the effect on the general fund of the Treasury.
            (5) Other countries, recognizing the effect of the increase 
        in commodity metal prices on the cost of producing circulating 
        coins, have adjusted the metal content of some or all of their 
        circulating coins in the period in which there has been no 
        change in the metal content of United States circulating coins.
            (6) Canada has for several years produced a cent coin 
        similar in size and weight to the United States 1-cent coin 
        that is made of steel with a thin coating of copper, leading to 
        a unit cost to produce such coins considerably less than that 
        of the U.S. cent coin, and uses similar production techniques 
        to control the costs of all of its circulating coins.
            (7) In 1943, owing to demands for copper due to the 
        prosecution of World War II, the Mint produced the so-called 
        ``steel pennies'' which were zinc-coated steel blanks.
            (8) In view of the prior experience of the United States 
        Mint in producing the ``steel pennies'', there is no reason not 
        to change the metal content of the cent coin immediately, and 
        simply dropping the unit production cost of a 1-cent coin below 
        its face value would save the Treasury nearly $1,000,000,000 
        over the next decade at current production levels.
            (9) Any changes to the metallic content of the 5-cent, 10-
        cent and quarter-dollar coins should be made simultaneously, to 
        minimize the cost of adjustments that would need to be made to 
        coin-accepting, coin-counting, and other coin-handling 
        equipment and thus control costs to consumers.

SEC. 3. REDUCING THE COST TO TAXPAYERS OF PRODUCING THE PENNY.

    (a) Steel Pennies Required.--Subsection (c) of section 5112 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) 1-Cent Coin.--
            ``(1) In general.--The 1-cent coin shall--
                    ``(A) be produced primarily of steel; and
                    ``(B) 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).
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) Exception for lincoln bicentennial numismatic 
        pennies.--No provision of this subsection 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.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to all 1-cent coins issued after the end of the 90-day period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. REDUCING THE COST TO TAXPAYERS OF PRODUCING OTHER CIRCULATING 
              COINS WITHOUT INTERFERING WITH THE WAY SUCH COINS ARE 
              HANDLED BY BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT, AND CONSUMERS IN THE 
              COURSE OF ORDINARY COMMERCE.

    (a) Report Required.--Before the end of the 60-day period beginning 
at the end of the 90-day period referred to in section 3(b), the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee on 
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate describing a unified 
plan developed by the Secretary to change the metallic content of the 
5-cent, 10-cent, quarter-dollar and half-dollar circulating coins 
produced by the Secretary in such a way as to return the ratios between 
the unit cost to produce such coins and the face value of such coins to 
a point where it is as close as possible to the historic production 
cost to face value ratios achieved in the 1980s.
    (b) Detailed Recommendations and Model Legislation.--The reports 
required under this section shall contain detailed recommendations for 
the metallic content of each coin in such a form that the 
recommendations could be enacted into law within 30 days after the 
receipt of such report and appropriate congressional hearings and the 
production of such coins with new metallic content could begin within 
90 days after the date of the enactment of such new specifications, 
should the Congress so choose.
    (c) Improved Production Efficiency.--The reports required under 
this section shall include recommendations for changes in the methods 
of producing coins at the United States Mints that would further reduce 
the costs to produce circulating coins.
    (d) Minimizing Potential Conversion Costs.--The reports required 
under this section shall--
            (1) include no recommendation for new specifications for 
        producing a circulating coin that would require more than 1 
        change to coin-accepting and coin-handling equipment to 
        accommodate changes to all circulating coins simultaneously; 
        and
            (2) to the greatest extent possible, recommend 
        specifications that, while consistent with other portions of 
        this section and the amendments made by this Act, require no 
        changes to coin-accepting or coin-handling equipment whatsoever 
        to accommodate both coins produced with the new specifications 
        and coins produced as of July 31, 2007.
    (e) Fraud Prevention.--The reports required under this section 
shall make no recommendation for a specification change that would 
facilitate or allow the use of a coin with a lesser value produced by 
another country, or the use of any token or other easily or regularly 
produced metal device of minimal value, in the place of a circulating 
coin produced by the Secretary.
    (f) Further Recommendations for the 1-Cent Coin.--Notwithstanding 
the amendment made by section 3, the reports required by this section 
may contain any recommendation of the Secretary for any further changes 
to the metallic content of the 1-cent coin, other than the content of 
1-cent coins described in section 304 of the Presidential $1 Coin Act 
of 2005 that are issued for numismatic purposes, that the Secretary 
determines is more effective to reduce the unit production costs for 
such coins.
    (g) Annual Review and Update.--At 1-year intervals following the 
submission of a report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit 
a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate reviewing the metallic content of the 1-cent, 5-
cent, 10-cent, quarter-dollar and half-dollar circulating coins 
produced by the Secretary. Each such report shall comply with the 
requirements of this section for reports submitted under subsection 
(a).

SEC. 5. PROCUREMENT OF RESEARCH, TESTING, AND COMMODITIES.

    The Secretary of the Treasury may, to accomplish the goals of this 
Act, and consistent with the Secretary's development of the metallic 
content of the currently produced 1-dollar coin and the currently 
produced 5-cent, 10-cent, quarter-dollar and half-dollar coins, solicit 
input from within or without the Federal Government, including research 
facilities or the 2 current suppliers of the raw material for volume 
production of circulating coins with such new metallic content, and 
conduct any appropriate testing within or without the Department of the 
Treasury, consistent with all other applicable Federal laws on the 
procurement, or potential procurement of materials necessary for the 
performance of the duties of the Secretary.