Bill Description: House Bill 522 would allow the state to take money that is sitting idle in its treasury and invest it in physical gold and silver. 

Rating: +1

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

House Bill 522 amends Section 67-1210, Idaho Code, which is about how the state invests idle funds. It modifies the list of things the state treasurer may invest in. Specifically, subsection (n) allows the state to invest in "physical gold and silver, owned directly." 

The U.S. Constitution states in Article 1, Section 10, that "no state shall ... make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts." The framers of the constitution clearly recognized the importance of physical gold and silver as a store of wealth and the foundation of currency. 

House Bill 522 is a positive first step toward restoring the constitutional role of gold and silver. Diversifying the state's investments to include physical gold and silver also helps to protect the state's resources from the volatility of municipal bonds and the scourge of inflation. 

(+1)