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.

 
EXPLANATION – Matter in italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
Green numbers along left margin indicate location on the printed bill (e.g., 5-15 indicates page 5, line 15).

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.