Gov. DeSantis signs bill to make gold, silver legal tender in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that begins the process of making gold and silver legal tender in Florida.
This goes into effect on July 1, 2026.
The governor argues metals are a protection against a falling dollar.
APOPKA, Fla. - The State of Florida is taking a big step towards making precious metals just as useful as cash.
The backstory
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday to start the process of making gold and silver legal tender in Florida.
Starting July 1 of next year, the bill requires all coins to be stamped with weight, purity and mint of origin.
It specifies that using it, or accepting it, is optional.
Purchases of precious metal would be exempt from sales taxes, but gold and silver could be used to pay other kinds of taxes.
What they're saying
"We've really led the way on protecting your economic independence and your financial sovereignty," said DeSantis.
The governor argues metals are a protection against a falling dollar, which he sees as a risk given perennial deficit spending in Washington.
He points out gold has tripled in value since 2015, while, because of inflation, paper money is buying less.
OTHER NEWS: 3 arrested in S. Tampa DUI crash that severed man's leg: Police
"This is our ability to give you the financial freedom to be able to protect yourself against the declining value of the dollar," said DeSantis.
At Tampa Bay Coin and Precious Metals, owner Marc Bonnett displayed several silver bars, each weighing 100 ounces.
"You can't print this out of thin air," he said.
He applauded the move, but questioned how it would be implemented.
At $3,400 each, the bars are worth enough to be exchanged for a used car, depending on what rules the state of Florida sets up.
"I think that's a great idea in theory," said Bonnett. "I just don't know how they would implement it."
The bill specifies that businesses accepting gold must be licensed and that check cashers and money service businesses have to accept it.
Once a week, Bonnett says a customer tries to sell him something that's no better than Fool's Gold.
"There's a lot of fake stuff out there," he said. "And then they got to figure out what the stuff is worth compared to what they're selling and stuff and do all that. So I mean, unless they have somebody that specializes in that stuff. I think it'd be very difficult."
Now it's up to the CFO and the financial services commission to write the rules for how this will work.
What's next
A report has to be given to the legislature on November 1, and then the proposed rules must be ratified by the legislature to have them all in effect by July 1, 2026.
The Source
FOX 13's Evan Axelbank gathered the information for this story with assistance from a news conference by the governor on Tuesday.
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV
Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android
Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines
Download the SkyTower Radar app
Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
15 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Apple's latest message to Trump: We're buying American magnets
American manufacturing is getting a half-billion-dollar boost from Apple. The Cupertino-based iPhone maker said Tuesday it has reached a $500 million deal with MP Materials to buy US-made rare earth magnets. "Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. Rare earths are used in the production of high-powered magnets that enable a wide range of electronic functions, ranging from electric motors and generators to wireless charging and haptic touch responses in mobile devices. While new supplies of rare earths continue to be mined, Apple's initiative with MP Materials focuses on reclaiming and recycling neodymium magnets specifically for Apple devices from used consumer electronics and post-industrial scrap. News of the deal sent MP Materials' stock price soaring more than 25% on Tuesday morning, topping a prior price high reached in April 2022. The gains extend a run that started last week when MP Materials inked a multibillion-dollar deal with the US Department of Defense that guarantees a price floor for two of the most popular rare earth metals that is nearly twice as high as the Chinese market level, Reuters reported. The move also sends a message to President Donald Trump, who has pressured Apple to make more of its products in the US. "I said to Tim, I said, 'Tim, look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us," Trump said in May. Apple said in its release that this purchase commitment is part of a larger pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years. The company also said that MP Materials will provide "extensive" training at its new factory in Texas to build a new specialized workforce for magnet manufacturing.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MP Materials Stock Soars on Apple's $500M Commitment in US Rare Earths Firm
Shares of MP Materials are surging in early trading Tuesday after Apple said it would invest $500 million in the owner of the U.S.'s only operational rare earths mine. The move by the iPhone maker to ramp up its supply chain at home comes days after the Department of Defense took a 15% stake in the Las Vegas-based rare earths producer. MP Materials shares are up more than 200% this of MP Materials (MP) are surging in early trading Tuesday after Apple (AAPL) said it would invest $500 million in the owner of the U.S.'s only operational rare earths mine. The move by the iPhone maker to ramp up its supply chain at home comes days after the Department of Defense took a 15% stake in the Las Vegas-based rare earths producer. MP Materials shares are jumping 17%, bringing their year-to-date gain to more than 200%. MP Materials will supply the metals as part of Apple's pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, the tech giant said. The two companies are also planning to build a rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and 'develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance,' Apple said. 'Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States,' Apple CEO Tim Cook said. The deal comes as the Trump administration makes becoming less dependent on other nations like China for rare earths a top priority and a national security issue. China controls much of the world's supply of rare earth minerals such as neodymium and terbium, which are used in the manufacture of electric cars, drones, and advanced electronics. In April, as tensions mounted between the U.S. and China, Beijing imposed curbs on exports of the metals but recently opened the door to selling them amid a trade truce with Washington. Read the original article on Investopedia
Boston Globe
43 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Employees at the nation's consumer financial watchdog say it's become toothless under Trump
Advertisement One current employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the directive forbids staffers from speaking publicly about their jobs, said outsiders would be amazed at how little work is being done. Employees are reluctant even to talk to one another, out of fear that a conversation between two employees would be considered a violation of the directive. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Another employee described the drastic shift in mission, from trying to protect consumers to doing nothing, as 'quite demoralizing.' To gain an understanding of what is happening inside the CFPB, The Associated Press spoke with 10 current and former employees, as well as bankers and policymakers who used to interact with the bureau nearly every day but now say their emails and voicemails go into a black hole. The agency's press office doesn't respond to emails. Advertisement The CFPB took a lighter approach to its mission in Trump's first term but continued to pursue enforcement actions. Under President Joe Biden, the agency took an expansive view of its authority, targeting profitable practices by banks such as overdraft and credit card late fees, as well as investigating companies over credit reporting and medical debt. The bureau also turned a spotlight on Big Tech companies that have made inroads into financial services. For example, the CFPB ordered Apple to pay $89 million in fines and penalties for problems related to the Apple Card. Banks and the financial services industry felt the Biden CFPB acted too aggressively, particularly with a proposal to cut overdraft fees to $5 from the industry average of $27 to $35. The bureau estimated the move would save consumers roughly $5 billion a year. The proposal was overturned by Congress in April with Trump's backing. Once Trump 2.0 began, the bureau became a main target of the Department of Government Efficiency, then run by Elon Musk, who posted on X that the CFPB should 'RIP' shortly after DOGE employees became embedded at the agency. Through the bureau's acting chief, Russell Vought, the White House issued a directive that CFPB employees should " not perform any work tasks. " The administration then tried to lay off roughly 90 percent of the bureau's staff, or roughly 1,500 employees. Courts have blocked those layoffs, but there is a feeling inside the bureau that the court rulings are only a temporary reprieve. Companies that committed wrongdoing, or had open investigations, have lobbied the bureau and the White House for their punishments to be rescinded. Last month, the CFPB rescinded an agreement under which Navy Federal Credit Union agreed to pay $80 million to settle claims that it illegally charged overdraft fees to its members, who include Navy servicemen and women, and veterans. Advertisement In mid-May, the agency scrapped an order for the auto financing arm of Toyota to pay customers a total of $48 million for illegally bundling products onto car buyers' auto loans. 'Companies are lining up to get out of repaying harmed customers,' said Eric Halperin, former enforcement director at the bureau, who resigned earlier this year. The Associated Press sent a list of questions to the White House regarding President Trump's vision for the CFPB. The White House did not respond. While the lack of new initiatives and the scuttling of old ones frustrate employees the most, they also note that even everyday tasks have largely fallen to the wayside. A report from the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, found that the bureau is uploading roughly 2,200 complaints a day to its complaint database, compared to the roughly 10,500 complaints it was doing in the months before Trump took office again. Warren came up with the idea for the bureau when she was a law professor at Harvard University. The bureau did take an enforcement action on Friday. The pawn shop chain FirstCash Inc. agreed to pay $9 million to settle claims that it charged excessive interest rates on loans to armed service members, in violation of the Military Lending Act. FirstCash operates more than 1,000 stores. The bureau is going to be even further diminished in the coming months. The new budget law signed by Trump earlier this month cuts the CFPB's funding by roughly half, meaning the bureau will be forced into mass layoffs. Senate Democrats are looking for ways to restore that funding. Advertisement In the meantime, employees go about their mundane routine: They continue to check their email once or twice a day to see if any of their previous work has been slated for being undone. They wait to be laid off. The only constants are the silence from bureau political appointees or the 'mini funerals' that happen every Friday, when another batch of employees who have decided to leave the bureau voluntarily have their last day. 'I don't think I'll ever work in public service again,' said one current employee, who has been looking for a new job for the past three months.
