SchiffGold Exclusive: Utah State Representative Speaks on New Precious Metals Law

As the U.S. economy progresses toward monetary catastrophe, individual states are taking action to preserve and enable the use of sound money. Utah recently passed HB 348, which took effect in May and authorizes the state to invest a portion of its funds in precious metals. State Representative Ken Ivory sponsored the bill, and in an exclusive correspondence with SchiffGold, he explains why the new law is needed and discusses the next steps Utah is taking to weather the coming storm of inflation and federal monetary disaster. Below are Representative Ivory’s statements. 

What was your motivation for sponsoring this bill?

“Federal fiscal recklessness is catching up to our nation; rampant inflation, housing unaffordability, the international community moving rapidly away from the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency toward gold, and the number one source of revenue to the state of Utah is unsustainable federal funds. It would be government malpractice for us to continue reliant on unsustainable federal funds and not take action to preserve a rainy day fund in sound money, as the central banks of the world are doing at record-breaking rates.”

In your opinion, what role do precious metals play in Utah and in the country as a whole?

“The purchasing power of our dollars is being eroded at a rate of more than 5% per year due to the federal government monetizing (money printing) its reckless spending. This is the most regressive tax on those who can least afford it; young people and young families; the most vulnerable (poor, sick, elderly), fixed-income folks, etc. … We are working to preserve the purchasing power of the earnings and savings of the state of Utah and for all Utahns and hard-working Utah families. Precious metals provide a fixed standard so that our earnings and savings are not taxed out from under us surreptitiously through our federal government inflating the money supply to fund its favor factory spending addiction at the expense of hard-working Utahns and Americans!”

Are there any current plans for the state to actually begin investing in precious metals?

“Yes. Currently under HB 348, our State Treasurer, Marlo Oaks (one of the best, probably the best, in the nation), is authorized to invest up to 10% of our rainy day funds (currently at approx. $1.4 billion) in precious metals. … Additionally, the Precious Metals Study Group, led by Treasurer Oaks and myself, established under HB 348, is studying how we enhance Utah’s precious metals economy to serve as the world’s leading precious metals hub for mining, investing, transactions, etc. related to precious metals.

We anticipate additional legislation in the coming years to facilitate this objective as well as to make investing in and utilizing precious metals fractionally and transactionally available to everyone—not just the wealthy investor class. We want to make sound money options available for all Utahns to preserve the purchasing power of their hard-earned dollars from inflation and devaluation due to federal fiscal recklessness (which, sadly, is a near total certainty for the foreseeable future).”

Do you or other Utah legislators have any plans or bills in the works to further facilitate the use of and investment in precious metals in Utah?

“Yes, as mentioned above, we are studying investment, mining, refining, and fractional and transactional mechanisms to make owning, investing in, and using precious metals accessible to all Utahns and all Utah businesses and organizations so they do not continue to lose 5-10% per year of the value of their hard-earned dollars from the federal monetization of metastasizing the national debt, and interest on that debt. We are also looking into the tax, bonding, and collateralization aspects of investing and transacting in precious metals.

We also are looking into the use of fractional and transactional precious metals payment systems as a continuity of government solution, so that no matter what might happen to the dollar as it continues losing international and reserve currency standing, and no matter what might happen with traditional payment systems, we can as a state continue to pay police, firefighters, healthcare workers and other essential services to keep our state operationally sound, notwithstanding federal irresponsibility in the extreme.”

Citizens of Utah will undoubtedly benefit from this new law. With federal debt and inflation climbing higher every day, the proliferation and adoption of precious metals in the United States will certainly play a role in counteracting the destructive effects of monetary malfeasance.