SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Feb. 5, 2025) – Today, a Utah House committee passed a bill that would create a system allowing the state to pay vendors in gold or silver.
Rep. Ken Ivory filed House Bill 306 (HB306). The legislation would require the state treasurer to “develop and issue a competitive procurement to create, supply, and operate a precious metals-backed electronic payment system for the state.” The payment system would “use physical gold or silver held in vault facilities within the state as backing for electronic transactions; allow for the redemption of physical gold or silver by system participants; and enable the state to make payments to a participating vendor” using gold or silver.
On Feb. 5, the House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee passed HB306 by a 14-0 vote.
In practice, the passage of this legislation would allow vendors doing business with the State of Utah to accept payment in gold or silver in electronic form backed 100 percent by physical metal. They would also be able to redeem this electronic currency in physical metal. This would provide vendors a way to shield themselves from the rapid loss of purchasing power inherent in the fiat dollar.
While the payment system would initially be limited to participating vendors, it could also set the stage for state and local agencies in Utah to accept payment from residents in gold and silver.
STEP BY STEP
The enactment of HB306 would build on several previous incremental steps Utah has taken to support sound money.
Utah was the first state, to reestablish constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana have since joined.
The Specie Legal Tender Act opened the door for the development of a robust gold and silver economy in the state. With some legal hurdles cleared away by the state’s legal tender law, the United Precious Metal Association (UPMA) in partnership with Alpine Gold Exchange set up the state’s first “gold bank.”
The Act has also led to the creation of the Goldback, a local, voluntary medium of exchange. Goldbacks are notes made from fractions of an ounce of physical gold. The company created a process that turns pure gold into a spendable physical form for small transactions.
BACKGROUND
The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Currently, all debts and taxes in most states are either paid with Federal Reserve Notes (dollars) which were authorized as legal tender by Congress, or with coins issued by the U.S. Treasury – very few of which have gold or silver in them.
The Federal Reserve destroys this constitutional monetary system by creating a monopoly based on its fiat paper currency. Without the backing of gold or silver, the central bank can easily create money out of thin air.
This not only devalues your purchasing power over time; it also allows the federal government to borrow and spend far beyond what would be possible in a sound money system. Without the Fed, the U.S. government wouldn’t be able to maintain all of its unconstitutional wars and programs. The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the most powerful government in the history of the world.
State bills that facilitate and encourage the use of sound money create a playing field where people can push back against the Fed’s monetary malfeasance. Ultimately, it could create a scenario where people can drive out the “bad” fiat money with “good” sound money.
WHAT’S NEXT
HB306 will now move to the full House for further consideration.
- Signed as Law: Utah Affirms State and Federal Jurisdictional Boundaries - March 28, 2025
- Tennessee Senate Committee Advances Measure to Facilitate Gold and Silver Reserves - March 27, 2025
- Defend the Guard Act Passes Arizona House Committee - March 27, 2025