Earlier in the year, Del. Bob Marshall sponsored a bill to study whether Virginia needed to mint its own form of currency. His measure was left in the house Rules committee (a polite way of saying “it died”…and interestingly, for a House dedicated to openness, sunshine, transparency and whatnot, by an unrecorded voice vote). But the fear that the Federal Reserve will eventually destroy the dollar, thus requiring the states to step in and offer some alternative source of money, has spread to a number of other states.
In North Carolina, Republican Rep. Glen Bradley has put forward a bill much like Marshall’s:
Bradley has yet to find any co-sponsors for his legislation, though he seems to be drawing far more criticism than Marshall did for broaching the topic, including from one academic quoted in the article whose loathing for Austrian economic theory almost drips from the page. I gather this professor, Mike Walden from N.C. State, has no plans to seek employment in the economics department at George Mason…
Bradley’s bill is likely to meet the same fate as Marshall’s.
South Carolina gave the idea a look, too. But Utah has gone farther than them all, as its legislature passed a measure that, if the governor agrees, not only sets up a currency study committee, but also will allow residents to use gold and silver coins as legal tender and offer a credit for any capital gains taxes incurred by those using said coins.
Perhaps this is a tribute to Utah’s robust tea party movement, which in 2010 mobilized to unseat then-Sen. Bob Bennett in the GOP primary.
But I suspect there’s something deeper afoot. With gold-friendly politicians like Rep. Ron Paul discussing Federal Reserve policies, Austrian economic theory, the weaknesses of fiat currencies and more, it’s highly likely that additional local politicians might take up the alternative currency cause.
And as for Bob Marshall? While his study might not have gotten out of committee, he did manage, and with broad support, to shepherd a bill through the General Assembly that allows the Governor to instruct Virginia’s treasurer to mint commemorative gold, silver and platinum coins.
They will be known as “Ginnies.”
