Utah GOP lawmakers back bill to allow state to pay vendors in gold, help Americans beat inflation

Republican lawmakers in Utah are moving a bill through the legislature that if passed and signed into law would allow vendors working with the state to be paid in gold – a change that could inspire other states and the federal government to do so and perhaps return the U.S. to the gold standard. 

The bill has already passed in the state House and is working its way through the Senate, as this year's legislative session is coming to a close.

The leader sponsor for the House bill is Rep. Ken Ivory, who says the measure will give vendors – providing either goods or services – a choice on how they would like to be paid, including paper currency, but that gold, or silver, will allow them to "preserve their purchasing power."

State Treasurer Marlo Oaks recently told local KSL News Radio that "since gold usually rises in value, choosing to receive payment in gold will mean you could be less impacted by inflation."

“The value of your dollar is going down and gold has held its purchasing power,” Oaks also said.

The bill in large part requires the state treasurer to further study matter and "develop and issue a competitive procurement for a precious metals-backed electronic payment system," according to the state Legislature's website.

State Sen. Keith Grover is sponsoring the bill in the legislature's upper chamber.

The U.S. owns about $770 billion in gold. The price closed Tuesday on the markets at about $2,915 an ounce, according to the Dow Jones company Barron's.

Conservatives, like Kevin D. Freeman of Blaze TV and Blaze's senior editor Daniel Horowitz, enthusiastically responded to the Utah bill.

"UT HB306 electronic gold payments system allows state vendors to request payment in gold. Encourage UT Senate to pass & fund HB306 today!" Freeman wrote on X.

Horowitz also suggested that if the bill passes, it could bring the United States back to the gold standard.

"Transactional gold already passed the Utah House. We are so close in the Senate. This could be the first state where we can begin constructing a voluntary and gradual, de facto gold standard," he wrote.

The states' rights group The Tenth Amendment Center argues the Federal Reserve's monetary system is based on paper currency, which allows the central bank to "easily create money," and that states adopting gold policies like the one being proposed in Utah could change that.