Montana’s Bitcoin Reserve Bill has failed to clean the House of Representatives after voting against MPs during the latest floor session.
House Bill 429, which demanded permission to invest the state in bitcoin, precious metals and stabelin, killed in one 41-59 votesMPs expressed concern over the risks of using taxpayers for such investment, eventually putting forward any possible returns, determining potential volatility.
The law passed Montana’s Business and Labor Committee on February 19 with 12-8 votes.
An amendment was also proposed to fund the bill with interest earned from the US Rescue Scheme Act, but failed to increase the majority.
While most Republicans supported the bill, with voting in favor of 40, 18 opposed it. The opposition was mainly operated by Democrats, who unanimously voted against the measure.
According to Representative Lee Deming, the bill would have helped the state get better returns on taxpayer money. During 22 February House -Monitoring SessionHe argued that if the state was going to hold a hold on the taxpayer’s money, it was the responsibility to ensure the highest possible returns on investment.
“Either he or you give it back to them,” Deming said, explaining their support for the bill.
Montana’s representative Steve Fitzpatrick agreed, saying that the state had a surplus of funds “in bank”, which could be invested in assets such as bitcoin, precious metals and stabelcoins to generate better returns.
However, like the state representative Steven Kelly, those who opposed the House Bill 429 argued that the bill took a lot of risk for taxpayers. Kelly reported that lawmakers were responsible for protecting public funds and invested in unstable property like cryptocurrency for state money were “very risky”.
Another opponent called it “a foolish way to think about the taxpayer dollar”.
Montana joins Vyoming, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, only as four American states that have rejected the same bills, according to data Bitcoin Reserve Monitor.
As of 24 February, 19 other states are reviewing the Crypto Reserve Act, leading with Utah and Arizona – both upgraded their bills on their respective Senate floors for further debate.
