Texas Wants Its Gold Back From The Fed

Texas appears to be following the lead of Germany, Austria, and Holland, after the state government decided to repatriate the gold that it has stored at the New York Federal Reserve. On Friday, June 12th, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law, a bill that approves the construction of a new gold depository in Texas. Upon completion of the facility, Texas will pull $1 billion in gold bullion from the Fed’s vault.

State Representative Giovanni Capriglione, who was responsible for introducing the bill, is confident in the future of the depository. “We are not talking Fort Knox. But when I first announced this, I got so many emails and phone calls from people literally all over the world who said they want to store their gold … in a Texas depository. People have this image of Texas as big and powerful … so for a lot of people, this is exactly where they would want to go with their gold.”

However, the motivations for passing HB 483 appear to be rooted in Texas’ fear of Federal authority. Section 2116.023 of the bill specifically restricts “confiscation, requisitions, seizures, or other actions” by any “governmental or quasi-governmental” entity, in regards to their bullion. In other words, Texas just told the Federal Reserve to give back their gold, and to keep their grubby mitts off of it.