Relating to the establishment of a transactional currency based on gold and silver held in a bullion depository approved by the treasurer of state, and providing fees

This bill requires the treasurer of state to issue specie and establish a transactional currency that are usable as legal tender and readily transferable. The bill permits the treasurer of state to contract with a private vendor to perform the treasurer of state’s duties and requires the treasurer of state to exclusively authorize an approved bullion depository as the state’s issuer of specie. The bill requires the treasurer of state to hold all specie and bullion owned or purchased for such purposes in trust for the transactional currency holders and to maintain enough specie or bullion to allow for the redemption of all units of the transactional currency issued. The bill requires the treasurer of state to create an account in the approved bullion depository for all the specie and bullion. Once a person or state pays the treasurer of state for specie or bullion or designates specie or bullion held on account in the depository for being represented by transactional currency and pays a fee, the bill requires the treasurer of state to issue transactional currency to that person or state and to buy specie or bullion in the number of troy ounces of precious metal equal to the number of units of transactional currency issued to the purchaser, deposit the specie or bullion into the pooled depository account for the purchaser, and issue a depository account to the purchaser or update an existing depository account to reflect the purchase. The bill allows a person with transactional currency to redeem the currency for United States dollars, specie, or bullion by presenting the currency to the treasurer of state. To redeem the currency for the person, the bill requires the treasurer of state to sell the equivalent amount of specie or bullion from the pooled depository account and provide the amount received from the sale in United States dollars to the person or to withdraw the specie or bullion from the depository. The bill requires the treasurer of state to determine the value of a unit of transactional currency whenever transactional currency is issued or redeemed and requires that the value of a unit of transactional currency be equal to the appropriate fraction of a troy ounce of gold or silver at the time of that transaction as published by the approved bullion depository. The bill requires that specie and bullion purchased and deposited into the pooled depository account and money received in exchange for transactional currency or for the sale of specie or bullion in response to a request for redemption be held by the treasurer of state outside the state treasury and provides that it is not available for appropriation by the general assembly. The bill allows the treasurer of state to set a fee for issuing or redeeming transactional currency. The treasurer of state retains the fees to administer the bill and cover costs of industry standard merchant fees, with any excess to be deposited in the general fund of the state.