Should silver and gold be legal tender in CT? State lawmakers debate issue
HBJ PHOTO | DAVID KRECHEVSKY
The State Capitol in Hartford.
It’s a bill that would make Scrooge McDuck very happy.
The state legislature’s Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee is scheduled to conduct a public hearing Monday on a bill that would, among other things, officially make gold and silver legal tender in Connecticut.
While House Bill 1552 would designate U.S. government-issued gold and silver coins and bullion as legal tender, it also states that “no individual or entity shall be required to accept such coins or bullion in any transaction unless contractually agreed upon.”
The bill also tasks the state banking commissioner and treasurer with creating guidelines for integrating the use of gold and silver in commercial activities and financial transactions in the state, and establishes both a Connecticut Bullion Depository and a Gold Start Savings Program for impoverished children.
The bill requires the banking commissioner, treasurer and the commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to develop educational programs on gold ownership.
The legislation also establishes a Connecticut precious metals working group tasked with monitoring economic conditions, inflation expectations, precious metals prices and activities, “including the market activities of leading commodities exchanges and bullion market associations, and precious metals legislation proposed in or enacted by other states.”
The state treasurer also would be allowed to issue gold-backed bonds, expressed in grams or ounces of gold. “Interest payments on gold bonds shall be made in gold or cash equivalent, at the election of the bondholder,” the bill states.
In creating the Connecticut Bullion Depository, the bill makes it a division of the state treasurer’s office and requires the treasurer to appoint a depository administrator. The depository will provide “secure storage facilities for gold, silver and other precious metals for individuals, businesses and government entities,” offer gold-backed savings accounts, and to develop and administer “an electronic account system that allows account holders to manage their gold holdings on deposit with the depository.”
In addition, the treasurer, in coordination with the Connecticut Bullion Depository, would be required to issue Coannecticut Goldback certificates “as a sanctioned gold-backed medium of exchange within the state.” Among other things, the certificates would be redeemable for “physical gold or its equivalent market value” in U.S. currency, the bill states.
The bill also requires the Connecticut Bullion Depository “to maintain gold reserves” equal to or exceeding the total value of Goldback certificates in circulation.
It includes residency requirements for children and awards an allocation of gold based on achieving certain educational milestones. Under the bill children who live in a “concentrated poverty census tract” would receive 1/100th ounce of gold in each of three pre-school years, and then would receive 1/30th ounce of gold after achieving kindergarten readiness, after achieving third-grade literacy and math proficiency, after completing eighth grade and after graduating high school.
The committee was scheduled to conduct its public hearing Monday at 11 a.m. in Room 2E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
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