Lawmakers in Wyoming have introduced legislation today to create the “Wyoming Gold Reserve.”
Introduced by sound money champion Senator Bob Ide (R-Casper), Senate File 96 amends and further implements the Wyoming Legal Tender Act, a popular 2018 law that had removed all tax liability from gold and silver transactions and affirmed that the monetary metals are legal tender in Wyoming.
Senate File 96 prompts the Wyoming state treasurer to hold “not less than ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in specie and specie legal tender between and across all state managed accounts...”
The bill calls for the state to hold gold as an asset to help the Cowboy State hedge against its high exposure to Federal Reserve note dollars and potentially invest in precious metals leases and bonds, if market conditions warrant.
According to Sen. Ide, “Wyoming doesn’t own a single ounce of gold, putting our state’s finances and citizens at risk. International countries’ central banks all over the world, and even neighboring Utah and other states across the U.S., have started to seek alternatives to the U.S. Dollar. Gold and silver have been a reliable store of value for thousands of years.”
The legislation grants the treasurer authority over contracting for services with established firms and experts to assist with the duties, and requires financial disclosures along with any other requirements specified by law.
Additionally, the bill calls for the state treasurer to “conduct a study analyzing the role of precious metals in augmenting, stabilizing and ensuring the economic security and prosperity of the state and the families, residents and businesses of the state.”
The study explicitly includes “a review of methods for the state to begin accepting gold and silver as a payment medium.”
Results of the study shall be submitted to the joint revenue interim committee and select committee on financing and investments not later than Oct 1, 2025.
Wyoming is one of several states expected to introduce legislation regarding gold reserves in 2025. Tennessee and Utah recently passed similar measures, and this week, New Hampshire introduced House Bill 302, a bill that allows the state treasurer to invest up to 10% of the total amount of public funds in gold, silver, platinum, and some digital currencies.
Img credit: Skunkcrew/Wikimedia Commons
Jp Cortez is the Executive Director for the Sound Money Defense League, a non-partisan, national public policy group working to restore sound money at the state and federal level, and lead author of the Sound Money Index.
