Bill Description: Senate Bill 1323 would require Idaho courts to enforce the terms of contracts related to specific payments that are to be made in gold or silver. 

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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States 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 US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Idaho law recognizes that “gold and silver coin and specie” are legal tender in Idaho, and it contains a provision that says, “Unless expressly provided by statute or by contract, no person or other entity may compel another person or other entity to tender or accept gold or silver coin or specie unless agreed upon by the parties.”

While this provision does not apply to a contract, the law doesn’t specifically say that such contractual terms must be enforced. 

Senate Bill 1323 would amend Section 67-9903, Idaho Code, to explicitly say that “if a valid contract expressly designates a type or form of specie as tender, then an Idaho court asked to adjudicate a breach of such contract shall require, as a remedy for such breach, the specific performance of tendering the type or form of specie expressly designated in the contract.”

Enforcing the terms of voluntary and valid contracts is a fundamental responsibility of government.

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