Call it the Rick Perry gold rush: The governor wants to bring the state\u2019s gold reserves back from a New York vault to Texas.<\/p>\n
And he may have legislative support to do it. Freshman Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is carrying a bill that would establish the Texas Bullion Depository, a secure state-based bank to house $1 billion worth of gold bars owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Co., or UTIMCO, and stored by the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n
The idea isn\u2019t entirely new. Some Republicans worked on a gold bill last session that was never filed. And gold-standard-backing Ron Paul, the former Lake Jackson congressman, has raised repeated concerns about the safety of states\u2019 gold supplies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think gold is a hedge, or a protection, you always want it as close to the individual and the entity as possible,\u201d Paul told The Texas Tribune on Thursday. \u201cTexas is better served if it knows exactly where the gold is rather than depending on the security of the Federal Reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing Texas\u2019 gold home has gained traction this session because of Perry\u2019s vocal support. On conservative radio host Glenn Beck\u2019s show Tuesday, the governor said Texas is \u201cin the process\u201d \u2014 the legislative process, he later clarified \u2014 of \u201cbringing gold that belongs to the state of Texas back into the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
He argued that the state is at least as capable as the Federal Reserve of safeguarding Texas\u2019 \u201cphysical gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we own it,\u201d Perry said, \u201cI will suggest to you that that\u2019s not someone else\u2019s determination whether we can take possession of it back or not.\u201d<\/p>\n