Arizona Moves Closer to Making Gold and Silver Legal Tender

As reported at Yahoo Finance.

The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote after being approved by the state House earlier this month. It now goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated if she will sign it into law or veto it.

The bill calls for Arizona to make gold and silver coins and bullion legal tender beginning in mid-2014, joining existing U.S. currency issued by the federal government.

If signed into law, Arizona would become the second state in the nation to establish these precious metals as legal tender. Utah approved such legislation in 2011.

More than a dozen states have considered similar legislation in recent years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The use of gold and silver as currency would be strictly voluntary, with businesses left free to accept the precious metals as payment for goods and services as they choose.

State Senator Chester Crandell, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, said the ability to use gold and silver in everyday life in the state is still a "work in progress" and that more legislation was needed before it could be viable.

"This is the first step in getting it into the statute so we can build on it," Crandell said at an earlier hearing on the bill.

I would expect this to be only the first step. As the Federal Reserve and other central banks debase their fiat currencies, I would surmise a growing demand for other competitive currencies other than those controlled monopolistically by central banks.