Congress authorizes firefighter memorial coins to fund fallen-hero programs
S. 4051 — National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Coin Act · Filed by Susan Collins (R-ME) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 11, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes the U.S. Mint to produce and sell commemorative coins honoring fallen firefighters—50,000 gold $5 coins, 400,000 silver $1 coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins—during a one-year window in 2029. The coins will carry a surcharge ($35 per gold coin, $10 per silver, $5 per half-dollar) that goes directly to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to support its programs, with no net cost to taxpayers because the Mint recovers all production expenses before any surcharge is distributed.
Why we flagged it
This is a standard commemorative coin bill—a routine legislative vehicle for raising funds for a designated nonprofit through voluntary numismatic sales. The mechanism is transparent and the beneficiary (National Fallen Firefighters Foundation) is clearly stated.
What the text implies
- The one-year issuance window (2029) creates artificial scarcity and may drive collector demand, potentially inflating secondary-market prices for early purchasers.
- The bill does not specify design approval timelines; delays in design selection could compress the issuance window and affect production capacity.
- Surcharge distribution is contingent on the Mint recovering all production costs first; if sales are weak, the Foundation may receive less than projected.
Who it affects
The bill creates a voluntary, cost-neutral revenue stream for a legitimate public-service memorial organization. Citizens who choose to purchase the coins do so at transparent prices; those who don't are unaffected. The surcharge supports firefighter-related charitable work without burdening the general treasury.
Who stands to gain
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
Named in the bill
U.S. Mint, Secretary of the Treasury, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Commission of Fine Arts, Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee
Where it stands
12 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 6 Republicans.
- Mar 11, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 11, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Mar 2026 to Mar 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 5 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Susan Collins, the sponsor, reported $2,459,513 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation — $10,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through May 5, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 2, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Mar 2026 to Mar 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through May 5, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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