Legislature to hear money-making plan

Thursday, March 12, 1998 | 10:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Although once declared illegal, Carson City attorney T. David Horton is embarking on a long-shot quest to require the state to start minting its own money.

His plan calls for the production of $50 million in $20 silver coins to be used for financial transactions in Nevada, including slot machines.

Horton says the state could make $320 million by producing the money and either selling the coins or using them to pay debts.

Each coin would contain one ounce of fine silver and bear the seal of Nevada on one side and the words "Contains One Troy Ounce Fine Silver, Twenty Dollars. Nevada Legal Tender" on the opposite side.

Horton estimates it would require 25 million ounces of silver to produce the coins.

Horton brushes aside a legal opinion by the Legislative Counsel Bureau a few years ago that this was illegal. The opinion said the federal government is the one that mints money, not the states.

But Horton says the counsel bureau only looked at one section of the U.S. Constitution and the opinion is bogus.

Horton introduced his idea in the Legislature once but the bill died in the Senate.

Congress has the power to make money, Horton said, but it violated that law when it delegated its power to the Federal Reserve Bank. This opens the door for the state to begin minting its own coins.

Under the name of the Nevada Freedom Coalition, he filed an initiative petition Wednesday with the secretary of state's office to enact a new Nevada law. He must gather 46,764 signatures by Nov. 10. The petition must have the signatures of 10 percent of the voters in 13 of the 17 counties.

If a sufficient number of names are gathered, the petition would be submitted to the 1999 Legislature which has 40 days to approve or reject it. If the lawmakers refuse to approve it, then the question is placed on the ballot at the next general election which would be 2000.

The Freedom Coalition, Horton said, is composed of 40 groups that represent such diverse interests as the Libertarian and the Independent American Parties, along with some Republican and Democratic members.

Even if he doesn't get the names on the petition, he said this will bring the issue into focus for the voters.