Members of the West Virginia Legislature are seeking to enact legislation helping restore sound money and enforce the U.S. Constitution’s monetary provisions.
House Bill 4342 (HB 4342), titled the “Legal Tender Act,” is sponsored by Delegate Chris Pritt (R-Charleston). Del. Pritt had previously introduced an identical bill, HB 2333, in the previous session.
If enacted, HB 4342 would officially recognize federal-issued gold and silver coins as legal tender and establish nonrefundable tax credits for capital-gain transactions of gold and silver — thus bringing West Virginia closer to constitutional compliance and treating gold and silver as money.
HB 4342 is a good first step toward enforcing the Constitution’s monetary provisions. Article I, Section 10, of the U.S. Constitution plainly states that “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” It’s long overdue that states begin to enforce this provision once again.
Additionally, this bill is an important step toward nullifying the unconstitutional Federal Reserve, which has a monopoly on money, and also reducing West Virginia’s financial dependence on the federal government. It will also help West Virginia avoid the federal government’s planned “Central Bank Digital Currencies,” which severely threaten privacy and individual freedom.
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution obligates state officials to uphold the Constitution and nullify all laws not “made in Pursuance” of it. Officials at all levels of government must push back against the federal government’s many unconstitutional laws and agencies, and robustly enforce the Constitution and only those laws “made in Pursuance thereof.” HB 4342 is a good model for other states to follow.
Urge your state representative and senator to support HB 4342 and to fully restore sound money in West Virginia.
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