Texas could create its own ‘Fort Knox’ to store gold

26-May (Houston Chronicle) — 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 new depository would be operated as an office within the comptroller’s agency.

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