Assembly Bill No. 532–Committee on
Constitutional Amendments

 

March 24, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Constitutional Amendments

 

SUMMARY—Directs issuance of Nevada silver coins. (BDR 31‑1297)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to state financial administration; directing the issuance of Nevada silver coins; providing that such coins are legal tender for all debts in this state; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. Chapter 353 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

1-2  thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 and 3 of this act.

1-3  Sec. 2.  The Legislature finds that:

1-4  1.  The State of Nevada, at the time of its admission to the

1-5  United States, was a sovereign entity on equal footing with the 13

1-6  sovereignties that formed the compact known as the Constitution

1-7  of the United States.

1-8  2.  In ratifying and approving the Constitution of the United

1-9  States, Nevada agreed to delegate certain of her sovereign powers

1-10  to three agencies of government, all in the form provided by the

1-11  Constitution.

1-12      3.  Among the powers delegated by Nevada was the sovereign

1-13  power to issue money. That power was delegated by Nevada and its

1-14  sister states to the Congress of the United States in Section 8 of

1-15  Article I of the Constitution of the United States, on condition that

1-16  the Congress would issue all money.

2-1  4.  Nevada also, in Section 10 of Article I of the Constitution

2-2  of the United States, agreed not to issue its own money. This

2-3  agreement was also conditioned upon the Congress discharging its

2-4  obligation to issue money as the agent of Nevada and its sister

2-5  states.

2-6  5.  The purported delegation by the Congress of the power to

2-7  issue money to the Federal Reserve Bank, a privately owned

2-8  corporation, is a violation of the terms of the Constitution of the

2-9  United States.

2-10      6.  The failure of the Congress to discharge its obligation to

2-11  issue all of the money pursuant to Section 8 of Article I of the

2-12  Constitution of the United States absolves the State of Nevada

2-13  from its constitutional obligation not to issue money.

2-14      Sec. 3.  1.  The State of Nevada shall issue into circulation

2-15  coins of the State of Nevada in the face amount of $50,000,000.

2-16  The coins must contain 1 ounce of fine silver, must be alloyed to

2-17  90 percent fineness and must bear The Great Seal of the State of

2-18  Nevada on one side and the words “Contains One Troy Ounce

2-19  Fine Silver,” “Twenty Dollars,” “Nevada Legal Tender” and the

2-20  year of issue on the other side. The coins so issued are legal tender

2-21  for all debts, public and private, in this state.

2-22      2.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, when the

2-23  coins authorized by subsection 1 are received into the State

2-24  Treasury, they must be reissued. The coins must not be held as a

2-25  reserve except as the Legislature otherwise directs.

2-26      3.  If the number of coins subject to the control of the State

2-27  Treasurer diminishes to 500,000, the State of Nevada shall make

2-28  successive issues of coins in accordance with subsection 1 in the

2-29  face amount of $50,000,000, unless the total face value of the

2-30  coins already issued is $500,000,000, in which case the State of

2-31  Nevada shall issue no further coins without prior approval of the

2-32  Legislature.

2-33      4.  If the Legislature of the State of Nevada determines that

2-34  the Congress of the United States is fulfilling its constitutional

2-35  obligation to issue money by:

2-36      (a) Requiring the Federal Reserve Bank to retire its

2-37  circulating notes; and

2-38      (b) Causing the issuance of sufficient notes of the United

2-39  States and other currency to meet the needs of the commerce of

2-40  the United States and of Nevada,

2-41  the State Treasurer shall retire the coins authorized by this section

2-42  as they are received into the State Treasury.

2-43      Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.

 

2-44  H