COIN CONSIDERED FOR COAST GUARD MUSEUM

Following the inclusion of $5 million for the National Coast Guard Museum in the federal spending bill working its way through Congress, several of Connecticut’s federal lawmakers are reviving a bill to create a commemorative coin to help raise money for the museum.

U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on Wednesday reintroduced the United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act, which would require the U.S. Treasury to create new $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins. U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., is also a co-sponsor on the bill. The proceeds from the sale of the coins would be used to support development and operation of the museum. Sales of such coins generally raise about $2 million to $3 million.

The $1 trillion budget bill for the fiscal 2017 year, which passed the House on Wednesday, includes $5 million that would be used for initial appraising, cataloging and organizing artifacts, and could not be used for the design and construction of the museum. The Senate is expected to vote on the spending bill today.

The National Coast Guard Museum Association, which still has a ways to go in its fundraising efforts, has secured $9 million in private donations toward the estimated $100 million museum project. The state has committed $20 million for a pedestrian bridge to the museum.