A bill that sought to legalize gold and silver as currency in Louisiana failed badly before a House committee on Monday, showing the limits on what the far right can achieve even with a Republican super-majority.
House Bill 714, which would have established gold or silver “bullions” or “species” as currency, died 16-2 in the House Commerce Committee Monday.
Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, one of the Legislature’s most conservative members, had expressed great excitement about his HB 714 in recent days, texting a reporter before the meeting, “It’s time for a big story on transactional gold! It has the potential to benefit people from every socioeconomic class.”
Crews has also been handing out copies of “Pirate Money: Discovering the Founders’ Hidden Plan for Economic Justice and Defeating the Great Reset,” a book published in 2023 that touts the idea.
The office of Treasurer John Fleming sent out a press release beforehand calling HB 714 “landmark legislation” to allow Louisiana to become the first state to make gold and silver “legal tender” status.
Under HB 714, the treasurer’s office would establish a platform to allow people to use gold or silver to purchase goods that they have stored in a depository, such as one that was established several years ago in Texas.
Crews and Fleming told members of the House Commerce Committee that the treasurer’s office would take a small fee – perhaps .5% — during each transition.
“We would be simply a facilitator of these gold transactions, and the gold would be held elsewhere, perhaps in Texas or another state,” Fleming told the committee members.
Crews likened the transaction to someone using a debit card, only in this case they would make the purchase using their gold holdings.
Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City and another far-right conservative, spoke approvingly of the measure, saying gold is a great hedge against inflation and a dollar that continually loses value.
But then members of the committee began to ask questions.
Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, questioned whether the U.S. Constitution would allow Louisiana to establish gold and currency as a currency.
Crews said it would.
Rep. Troy Hebert, R-Lafayette, asked if HB 714 would create a state-run bank because it would essentially handle the taking of deposits to the gold depository and take fees from the payments.
Fleming insisted that it would not.
“We’re not interested in a state-run bank,” he said. “We want to provide the state imprimatur.
Who sets the price of gold? asked Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans.
Crews said he did not know.
While Crews and Fleming said gold goes up over time, Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, noted that gold prices fluctuate over time.
Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, read aloud figures showing how gold has dropped in value numerous times in recent years.
Fleming responded by saying that hard assets, such as gold, silver and real estate, inevitably go up over enough time.
Unimpressed, Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, said it sounded like they were pitching a “Ponzi scheme.”
Rep. Vincent Cox III, R-Gretna, asked why the legislation was needed if people can already use gold and silver as currency through such private companies as Glint.
