The Arizona senate unanimously passed SB1439, the Constitutional Tender Act, making gold and silver legal tender by a vote of 18-0 last week.
On Thursday, Governor Jan Brewer refused to sign the bill into law and vetoed the measure claiming the law would result in lost tax revenue for the state.
Reuters reports:
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a measure on Thursday that would have made gold and silver legal tender in the state, saying the legislation could have resulted in lost tax revenue.
The Republican-controlled state legislature voted through the measure last month in a response to what backers said was a lack of confidence in the international monetary system.
The bill called 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.
“While I believe the concern over a devalued dollar as a result of an unsustainable federal deficit is justified, I am unable to support this legislation,” Brewer, a Republican, said in an open letter to state Senate President Andy Biggs.
Brewer noted that the “administrative and fiscal burdens” for taxpayers and the revenue department “remain vague.” She also cited uncertainty over whether the legislation would have required the state to exempt transactions involving collectable coins and bills that were authorized by Congress and could be used as legal tender.
“This would result in lost revenue to the state, while giving businesses that buy and sell collectable coins or currency originally authorized by Congress an unfair tax advantage,” she said.
It is highly unlikely that tax revenues would suffer under this proposed legislation since only a small minority of transactions would be conducted in gold and silver and businesses are required to collect taxes on those transactions as with any other.
This “lost revenue” argument seems to be an easy scapegoat for protecting the Federal Reserve’s monopoly which Brewer was presumably instructed to do.
You may contact Jan Brewer’s office using the phone numbers below:
(602) 542-4331
800-253-0883 (outside Maricopa County only)
Be polite, but tell her what you think of her vetoing constitutional competing currencies in Arizona.
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