Governor Rick Perry wants to bring the state's gold reserves back from a New York vault to Texas.
And it's looking like he has the legislative support needed to get it done. Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, of Texas, is ready to propose a bill that would establish a Texas Bullion Depository, a state bank to house the gold owned by the University of Texas, stored by the Federal Reserve and currently valued at one billion dollars.
Some Republicans worked on a similar bill last session, but it was never filed and was not able to make it any further. Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman, has raised concerns about the safety of the states gold supplies that resides in New York.
"If you think gold is a hedge, or a protection, you always want it as close to the individual and the entity as possible; Texas is better served if it knows exactly where the gold is rather than depending on the security of the Federal Reserve." The former congressman stated.
Governor Perry argued that the state is as capable as the Federal Reserve of safeguarding Texas' physical gold. "If we own it," Perry said, "I will suggest to you that that's not someone else's determination whether we can take possession of it back or not."
Capriglione said he was at a Tea Party event in Tarrant County this year where Perry spoke about the state's gold investments as an economic development tool. Since then, he has worked with Perry's office on the bill.
"We don't want just the certificates. We want our gold. And if you're the state of Texas, you should be able to get your gold." the Texas representative said.
The U.S. and many other countries stopped backing their currency with gold decades ago. It was said that this bill is not about putting Texas on its own gold standard. Instead, it would give the state a more financially secure position in the event of a financial crisis.
If for some reason Texas has a problem getting the gold from the vaults in New York, where it is currently being held, they could always sell the gold and repurchase the asset inside Texas state lines. It could be guarded in an area that is no more than twenty square feet, something that is easily achievable.
So, once again as we have noticed with Switzerland, Germany and the list seems to be growing. Countries and now states who own gold, want it in a location that they can get their hands on it if something should happen, or a financial crisis should rear its ugly head again.
The question seems now to be what are all these different organizations, countries and now states looking at that tells them that are better off acting now, instead of waiting. And why would a state that does not have to deal with the worry of their gold supply being outside of the country feel so strong that it is not even safe unless it is in the borders of their own state. An answer to a question that may not be available to us until we get further down the road.