By: Mike Maharrey|Published on: Dec 13, 2023|Categories: Federal Reserve, State Bills|
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Dec. 13, 2023) – Bills filed in the Florida House and Senate would take several steps to increase currency competition with sound money in Florida, and set the stage for the people there to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.
Rep. Doug Bankson and Rep. Chip LaMarca filed House Bill 697 (H697) on Dex. 4. Sen. Ana Rodriguez filed a companion, Senate Bill 750 (S750), on Dec. 6. The legislation would treat “specie legal tender” as money in the state.
SPECIE LEGAL TENDER
Specie legal tender is defined as, “Specie coin issued by the Federal Government at any time; and any other specie designated by the Chief Financial Officer as legal tender pursuant to the monetary authority not prohibited in s. 10, Art. I of the United States Constitution.”
Under the proposed law, “Specie legal tender may be recognized to pay private debts, taxes, and fees levied by the state or local government or any subdivision thereof.”
By allowing the the CFO to designate additional specie to be used as legal tender, Florida could free its citizens from potential supply constraints imposed by the use of only United States-minted gold and silver coins. More importantly, the people of the state of Florida would be able to define what specie is considered constitutional tender, further distancing themselves from potential control of their competing currency by Washington D.C.
Under the proposed law, specie is defined as “bullion fabricated into products of uniform shape, size, design, content, weight, and purity which are suitable for or customarily used as currency, as a medium of exchange, or as the medium for purchase, sale, storage, transfer, or delivery of precious metals in retail or wholesale transactions.”
The legislation would also facilitate online and other forms of electronic payments by gold and silver. Electronic currency is defined as “a representation of actual gold and silver, specie, and bullion held in a depository account, which may be transferred by electronic instruction.”
Practically speaking, these provisions would allow Floridians to use gold or silver in both physical and electronic form as money rather than just as mere investment vehicles. In effect, it would put gold and silver on the same footing as Federal Reserve notes.
Passage into law would make Florida the fifth state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. Utah led the way, reestablishing constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Arkansas have since joined.
Comentários