The Virginia House of Delegates has passed a bill that would fund a study to examine the pros and cons of the State of Virginia having its own currency. The proposal was put forth by Republican Delegate Robert G. Marshall.
From the Washington Post:
His proposal would create a 10-member commission to study “the need, means, and schedule for establishing a metallic-based monetary unit to serve as a contingency currency for the Commonwealth.” The study would cost $17,440.
The article notes that other states have had similar bills pop up, though only Utah has actually passed a law recognizing ‘nontraditional’ currencies. A number of local currencies have popped up in places like Ithaca, N.Y., and the Berkshires in Massachusetts to encourage people to shop locally. With the use of local currencies, digital currencies like BitCoin, and now possibly state currencies, commerce could get a lot more complicated.
In the early days of the United States, when the original 13 colonies were joined by the articles of confederation, there were 13 different currencies, which slowed commerce between the states. That is one of the reasons that the United States Constitution specifies that it is Congress that can coin money. As modern technology makes it easier to spend money across currencies, one wonders whether alternate currencies have some kind of future.
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