News Note: Texas Could Create its own Fort Knox

For those of us who live in Texas this news article in the Houston Chronicle may be of interest. It says the Texas Legislature may be about to pass a bill which would establish and administer the state's first gold bullion depository. The article goes on to say that various Texas entities including the University of Texas own over $1 Billion worth of actual gold bullion (which probably comes as a surprise to many people). Below are a few quotes.

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"Texas could get its own version of Fort Knox, the impenetrable repository for the nation's gold bullion, if the Legislature gets its way.

Under House Bill 483, approved unanimously on Tuesday by the state Senate, Comptroller Glenn Hegar would be authorized to establish and administer the state's first bullion depository at a site not yet determined. No other state has its own state bullion depository, officials said.

Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said the state and its agencies have more than $1 billion worth of gold that now is kept in secure facilities in other states. She said there is concern that fortune should be in Texas.

An official analysis of the bill explains: "The establishment of a Texas Bullion Depository would allow the state, state agencies, and private individuals to store precious metals utilizing a secure Texas-based depository to reduce reliance on out-of-state facilities and to insulate their assets from unstable market forces."

. . . .

"The state has gold, and several years ago (the University of Texas Investment Management Corp.) purchased just under a billion dollars worth of gold," she said. "Most of the bullion depositories are in New York -- there may be a small one in Delaware -- and they charge the state a fee to store each bar of gold."

Update 5-31-2015: Per this article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, it appears that the Texas Legislature has passed the bill to set up this new depository in Texas.