Legislators in at least ten states have introduced bills in the past few years to allow state commerce to be conducted with gold and silver.As reported, Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) recently reintroduced
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/georgia-goper-pushes-bill-for-taxes-to-be-paid-in-gold-and-silver.php legislation to force his state to conduct all monetary transactions with U.S. gold or silver coins -- including the payment of taxes.
The Georgia bill has a long way to go before become law -- but it's by no means the only state that's considering a future in gold. Lawmakers in Montana
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0639.htmMissouri
http://house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/bilsum/intro/sHB561I.htmColorado
http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2009a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont2/107A082F6E9A3E098725753E005BDC18?OpenIdaho
http://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2010/H0622.htmIndiana
http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2009&session=1&request=getBill&docno=453New Hampshire
http://www.goldmoneybill.org/index.htmlSouth Carolina
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess118_2009-2010/bills/4501.htmUtah
http://www.dgcmagazine.com/blog/index.php/2010/12/19/the-utah-sound-money-act/and Washington
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=4010&year=2009 have proposed legislation, mostly in 2009, to include gold and silver in its accepted currency forms. Constitutionaltender.com
http://www.constitutionaltender.com/,a site dedicated to tracking and promoting these bills, explains:
The United States Constitution declares, in Article I, Section 10, "No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment ofDebts". But, in fact, EVERY state in the United States of America DOES make some other "Thing" besides gold and silver coin a "Tender in Payment of Debts" -- some "Thing" called "Federal Reserve Notes." Thus the need for the "Constitutional Tender Act" -- a bill template that can be introduced in every state legislature in the nation, returning each of them to adherence to the United States Constitution's actual legal tender provisions.
The site's Facebook page
http://www.causes.com/causes/209010-support-the-state-constitutional-tender-act/about?m= says all donations to the group go to RightMarch
http://www.rightmarch.com/about.htm , a conservative 501(c)(4) that describes its goal as to "counter the well-financed antics of radical left-wing groups like MoveOn.org, by appealing to the grassroots "silent majority" to take action." RightMarch is run by Bill Greene, who ran for Congress
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/bill-greene-for-congress.asp?cycle=08 in Georgia in 2008.
This idea of using gold and silver as currency has recently enjoyed a bit of a renaissance -- Fox Business' Stuart Varney and Andrew Napolitano, for example, recently debated
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/fox_news_discusses_return_of_gold_as_everyday_curr.php whether the country should return to using gold as everyday currency. Gold vending machines had already been operating in some European countries and the United Arab Emirates before one recently opened
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/gold-dispensing_atm_comes_to_florida_mall.php in a Florida mall. And, of course, there's Glenn Beck's consistent touting
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/-weiner-takes-on-becks-goldline-ties.php of the gold seller Goldline on his radio show.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/at-least-10-states-have-introduced-gold-coins-as-currency-bills.php