Individual US States push for gold and silver legalization

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Bill tracking here:

 

Oklahoma lawmakers ponder state gold and silver depository​

What Oklahoman doesn’t long for a state-operated Fort Knox to store their gold and silver bullion?

OK, probably not that many. But also maybe more than the average person might think.

Surveys suggest that 10% to 12% of American adults own gold or silver. To what extent Oklahoma fits the profile is unknown, but it is among a wave of mostly conservative states considering state-owned bullion depositories that issue debit cards allowing depositors to draw against the cash value of their precious metals.

At least two such bills have been filed for the upcoming session: Senate Bill 1351 by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, and SB 1507 by Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee.

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New Jersey's EPIC Move On Gold & Silver! Here's What's Happening NOW!​

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(Madison, Wisconsin) – A large bipartisan contingent of Wisconsin legislators have reintroduced legislation seeking to end Wisconsin’s outdated practice taxing purchases of gold and silver.

Assembly Bill 29 and Senate Bill 33, primarily sponsored by Rep. Shae Sortwell and Sen. Duey Strobel (R - Saukville), respectively, are cosponsored by almost two dozen other legislators and enjoys wide support – and would align Wisconsin with the policies of 43 other U.S. states.

 

Update:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 18, 2024) – On Wednesday, a Missouri Senate committee passed a bill that would treat gold and silver as legal tender, and eliminate state capital gains tax on the same. It would also authorize the state to hold the metals in reserve and ban the state from seizing gold and silver.

Sen. William Eigel along with Sen. Mike Moon filed Senate Bill 735 (SB735) on Dec. 1. Passage into law would set the stage for the people of Missouri to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. On Jan. 17, the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Pensions Committee took the first step and passed SB735.

 
Sunny Isles Beach, FL just passed the Sound Money Act Resolution

C4SM is asking for help to distribute this tweet on X


 

Update:

(Trenton, New Jersey) - New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has unilaterally killed a bill that would have exempted the sales tax on purchases of gold and silver.

A5294/S1825 had passed out of both committees and both chambers of the New Jersey legislature without a single "no" vote. This popular bill had more than a dozen cosponsors and had unanimous approval in each legislative chamber. Despite this, Gov. Murphy chose not to enact the bill into law.

Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, and Ohio have all recently enacted legislation to exempt gold and silver from state sales tax, or extend their existing exemption on the metals. In total, 43 states have ended sales tax on gold and silver – including all three of New Jersey’s neighboring states.

New legislation to end this tax has already been reintroduced: A2812/S721.

 

 
Update on the Kansas bill:
 

 


Awesome!

 

Four States Consider Lifting Taxes on Precious Metals

Proponents of these bills point out that gold and silver are one of the only asset classes that have sales taxes; investors don’t have to pay sales tax on more common investments, like stocks and bonds.
The Sound Money Defense League recently elaborated on this point:


I don't know whether gold fans have really a reason to be happy.
The reason for not taxing gold sales should be because gold is money, not because it is non-consumption good.
Arguing that way the SMDL is implying that gold is an investment as opposite to money.
 
Baby steps.
 
What could happen after SHTF will be 2 posted rates to buy goods and services. There will be an official $USD rate based on paper currency or CBDC and next to it will be the AU/AG rate.

One hurdle will be liquidity of AU/AG unless other expenses such as payroll and utilities can also be used. Otherwise there will be a need for more middlemen who take their cut.
 
...
I don't know whether gold fans have really a reason to be happy. ...

The removal of unjust taxes is always a win - regardless of the motivations. People need to learn how to take a win, compliment, gift.

Many of these states are also removing state level capital gains taxes as well and that is also a win.

The way State legislatures work, some states need to take baby steps with Representatives realizing there are no negative (political) consequences for passing these measures before they consider supporting more expansive measures like the specie bill introduced in Iowa (mentioned in my last post).

It's very rare to just walk up to the plate and hit a home run in politics. Absent a groundswell of public support/outrage, building momentum/support for a bill usually takes a lot of persistence (and baby steps).
 

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Hi PM,
they question is not whether removing unjust taxes on gold is a win or not for gold investors... the question is rather whether the kind of argument used in order to remove unjust taxes on gold helps the cause of gold as money ... or whether it hinders it.
How could that even be possible you ask. Well hear me out

The main problem in making legislators treat gold as money is that they are convinced that gold is only an investment, a good.
Telling them that gold sales/earnings shouldn't be taxed because gold is a particular kind of investment (a non-consumption good) only re-inforces their conviction that gold is an investment - as opposed to money.

... and even if that's not the case, my point is that a measure representing a win for gold as investment doesn't necessarily represent a step - not even a baby step! - in the direction of gold is money.
 
.. the question is rather whether the kind of argument used in order to remove unjust taxes on gold helps the cause of gold as money ... or whether it hinders it.
...

I say it helps. 10 minutes after the bill passes, no one cares what the justification was for the votes. Future consideration on related bills have nothing to do with the motivation supporting the sales tax initiatives. The closer we creep to a level sound money playing field, the better.

I understand your desire for Congressional Reps to understand the issue and vote for the right reason, but as a pragmatist, I understand that it's a process and some folks are quicker to grok it than others. Keep the ball rolling. $.02
 
I understand your desire for Congressional Reps to understand the issue and vote for the right reason, but as a pragmatist, I understand that it's a process and some folks are quicker to grok it than others. Keep the ball rolling. $.02
Maybe your pragmatist view is the right one

To grok or not to grok... That is the question...
 
.... your prying on a crevice in a rock face LOL (imho) and its always a good thing to look in the shadows.......but the totality of it and all the bills are highlighting gold as a asset without counter party risks and removing encumbrances and as such it naturally floats to the pinnacle of the "money pyramid"........
 
... now this one has the prying in the crevices with a rock face, the other one had the grok, holy cannoli I hope one day I'll be able to participate in an American forum without dictionary
 
The Iowa house bill HF659 has a companion bill in the state senate which just passed through a committee:
 

Arizona Senate Committee Passes Bill to Establish Bullion Depository and Transactional Gold-Backed Currency


WHAT’S NEXT
SB1633 will move to the Senate Rules Committee where it must get a hearing and pass by a majority vote before moving forward in the legislative process.

blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com

I think it would be helpful to have - as an overview - a list of which States have passed what...
 
Don't know if this is what you have in mind. Best I can do.
Thanks searcher,
it was not what I had in mind but I understand that what I had in mind is unreachable, the situation being much more complex than I thought.
With the website you linked one has to open 54 tabs with each tab showing the situation in one state, so an overview is difficult.
I was thinking of some sort of excel chart with a list of the 54 states accompanied by 1-2 lines explaining what was passed in each one of them, just for overview's sake.

Anyway, representing the minoritarian view that improvements in the taxation of investments in PM means very little in regard to promoting PM as money, I'm very interested in the concept of transactional currency (backed by gold and silver), which to me sounds like some form of gold-backed cryptocurrency.

While the sound money defense website you linked doesn't mention the introduction of transactional currencies in the states - making me wonder whether they are an organisation which mistakenly focus only on promoting gold investment - Michael Maharrey and his Tenth Amendment Center website seems to focus on them.
See for example his presentation of Arizona and Iowa
 
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I posted in the Money Metals Exchange review thread that Stefan Gleason was a Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center, so I must have read that somewhere, but I failed to include a reference link so I'm not sure now where I saw that. In any event, the 10th Amendment Center does publish Mr. Gleason's writings:


JP Cortez is flying around the country lobbying state legislatures on these laws. I've been following him on X/Twitter and he is a busy guy doing the heavy lifting with the lobbying.

The Sound Money index, created by the SMDL, is published on the Monetary Metals website (this has the overview you were looking for):

 
thanks @pmbug,
if SMDL promote gold-backed cryptocurrencies I'm their biggest fan
Still don't understand why they don't mention transactional currencies in their website.

In their website, for each state they focus on
  • State Sales Tax Laws
  • Capital Gains Laws
  • Gold and Silver Money Status
  • Depository Laws
  • State Reserves Laws
  • Government Pension Funds
but even under "G&S money status" they never mention transactional currencies.
I conclude it's not a primary goal for them?
 
...
I conclude it's not a primary goal for them?

I suspect it's just a relatively new step on the journey. A few years ago, there were just a handful of states that did *not* have Sales taxes on gold and silver. End goals in politics are often achieved in baby steps. It wasn't until last year that the first gold backed digital token bill was even attempted. And that wasn't even really possible to consider until the Texas bullion repository had been established and operational.

You can of course send them an email and ask them directly...
 
I'm not American, this is a strictly US issue, maybe it's wise for me to not get involved.
The relatively new step explanation seems reasonable.
 
TOPEKA, Kansas (Feb. 21, 2024) – On Monday, Kansas House and Senate committees held hearings on bills that would declare gold and silver specie as legal tender in Kansas, establish a specie-backed transactional currency in the state, and establish a state bullion depository.

Rep. Michael Murphy and a large coalition of cosponsors introduced House Bill 2729 (HB2729) on Feb. 7. The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee introduced a companion, Senate Bill 513 (SB513), on Feb. 14. The legislation would take several steps to support sound money in Kansas.

On Feb. 19, the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee held a public hearing on SB513, and the House Committee on Financial Institutions and Pensions held a public hearing on HB2729. This is an important first step in the legislative process.

 
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