On Friday, March 25th, Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB 317, the “Utah Legal Tender Act,” into law.

The law recognizes gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency in the state. The coins do not replace the current paper currency, but may be used and accepted voluntarily as an alternative.

The law exempts the sale of gold and silver coins from the state capital gains tax, since you would simply be exchanging one form of legal tender currency for another. It also calls for a committee to study alternative currencies for the State and a means for Utahans to pay their taxes with gold and silver coins.

Gold and silver coins issued by the federal government are already legal tender, of course, and can be used to purchase items and pay debts owed. However, they could only be used at the face value of the coins — which is ridiculously lower than the value of the precious metal content of the coins. If you were to use them at the actual value of the coins, you would face a capital gains tax on the “profit” you gained over the face value.

If nothing else, this law recognizes the inanity of imposing a tax on exchanging one form of legal tender currency for another. By removing that tax and officially recognizing the legal tender status of the gold and silver coins within the State of Utah, the way is now open for good and services to be priced in both Federal Reserve Notes denominations and Gold & Silver Coins denominations; likewise, banks should now be free to offer their customers accounts denominated in legal tender gold & silver coins, so that consumers will be able to make purchases based on those accounts, using their debit cards, checks, ATM cards, etc. Banks should also easily convert FRNs to Gold & Silver Coins and vice-versa, since they will now be treated as simple currency exchanges.

So… what bank will be the first to jump on board here? Because once that happens, the floodgates will open, and billions of dollars in new banking accounts will pour into Utah banks, from people who want to use sound money that keeps its value, rather than nearly-worthless pieces of paper whose purchasing power continues to plummet.

And you know who’ll be one of the first in line!

The Constitutional Tender Act is Georgia House Bill (HB) 430.  It was introduced by Representative Bobby Franklin (R-43) in 2009.   He points out that the United States Constitution declares (Article I, Section 10) that “No State shall…make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.”  However this is no longer the case.

Right now, the U.S. uses fiat currency, which means it’s not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver.  It derives its value by being declared by the government to be legal tender.  That is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country for all debts, public and private.

Rep. Franklin feels that the country needs to return to a gold and silver-backed currency, and that the present fiat money situation is one of the reasons the value of the dollar has dropped so dramatically.

He wants the transition to take place in 2011.  He envisions store owners accepting either the fiat currency or the new gold/silver-backed currency, just as a store owner in Mexico might accept pesos or U.S. dollars.

The exchange of gold and silver currency could take the form of U.S. minted gold or silver, or having special checking accounts where it would all be handled electronically, via checks, or via silver or gold-backed credit and debit cards.  I guess that would give a whole new meaning to the phrase “gold card”!

A vote will be taken sometime this year.  If it passes, Rep. Franklin contends that will be a good beginning toward stabilizing our economy and will encourage other states to follow suit.  (A handful of states are currently discussing similar possibilities.)  It would also increase the value of gold and silver as becomes increasingly important as legal tender.

To hear a video discussion about HB 430, go to this Constitutional Tender Act link on YouTube. For additional information, visit the Constitutional Tender Act website or the Georgia General Assembly website.

Source: http://media.causes.com/ribbon/724677

YOU DID IT!

This week, we asked you to contact the Chairmen of the two subcommittees that HB 430, the “Constitutional Tender Act,” was assigned to. Well, you must have done a good job — because we got a call today from Rep. Calvin Hill‘s office, letting us know that the subcommittees will be holding a combined hearing on HB 430 — THIS TUESDAY, March 24th, from 10am-12pm! (in room 415 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building)

That means we’re scrambling to bring in people to testify for those two hours — experts, regular citizens, etc. But the BIGGEST thing we need is to FILL THAT COMMITTEE ROOM with supporters of the Constitutional Tender Act!

It’s a sure bet that there will be lobbyists there to testify AGAINST this bill. The Georgia Bankers Association has gone on record in opposition to it. The lobbyist for the Community Bankers Association of Georgia stated clearly that they would fight it. And these guys carry a lot of political clout.

THEY will be there. Will WE?

You see, WE carry clout, too. Or at least — we SHOULD. We should be able to stand up and demand that our legislators OBEY the U.S. Constitution.

We shouldn’t HAVE to demand it — but we SHOULD be able to MAKE it happen!

There are a number of Members of these subcommittees who have a good idea of what this bill is attempting to do. But in order for the bill to continue to move forward, we need for the next important step to take place:

The members of these subcommittees MUST hear from the people about how IMPORTANT this bill is, and WHY it needs to be voted favorably back up to the Committee!

So, fellow Constitutionalists, we need to TAKE ACTION AGAIN! Here’s how:

• Contact the members of the two subcommittees — their contact info is at the bottom of this message. We’ve listed them out individually, with names, phone numbers, and email addresses; we’ve also grouped their addresses with commas and grouped them as a list, so you can pick a list to cut and paste them into your email “To:” line.

• Quote Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution to them: “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts”.

• Simply ask each Member to listen to the testimony on HB 430 with an open mind. Ask them to please begin each question they may have with this phrase: “Since the U.S. Constitution requires every state to ONLY use gold and silver coins in payments to and by the State, then… [insert question here]“.

• If you want to write more, explain to each Member why this bill is so important: because Georgia, like every other state, is in violation of the U.S. Constitution without such a bill (because the State is making some other “Thing” a Tender in Payment of Debts, both to and by the State). Remind each one that State legislators are all required to swear an oath to uphold that Constitution, so ethically and morally they need to do whatever the Constitution requires.

• You could also inform each Member that this type of bill is also needed because, due to the ever-widening circle of economic disaster that is affecting the citizens of every State, we MUST do something to at least begin the process of restoring sound money and a sound economy, whether or not the Federal government or any other State government does so. This would immediately begin the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury. This would stabilize the state’s economy, protect the pensions of state employees, etc. — and offer many other immediately recognizable benefits.

THANK YOU SO MUCH — it’s because of people like YOU, who are willing to take a few minutes of your valuable time to do something like this, that this bill is moving further through the General Assembly than we EVER thought it would this year!

LET’S ROLL! — http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/ — click on “FAQ”

(Please email info@constitutionaltender.com if any of these contacts don’t work)