SB298 makes it unlawful to require the use of "programmable money," unless a "free, non-digital alternative" is offered, and prevents an issuer from denying transactions based on "environmental, social, or governance standards."
The House passed SB298 on March 6, 2026, by a vote of 48 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because this legislation thwarts dangerous plans to impose unconstitutional "programmable money" in Utah. Although Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution says that "No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts," various forms of "programmable money" (e.g., Central Bank Digital Currencies, payment stablecoins, or tokenized bank deposits) now pose a significant threat to Americans' civil liberties. As "programmable money" has an inherent potential to restrict private and voluntary financial transactions, it is a perilous tool for "debanking," digital ID, other tyrannical means of controlling human behavior. In fact, "programmable money" can be integrated into, and abused on behalf of, the all-encompassing "woke" environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) movement, which seeks to implement a "social credit score" system." To keep Utah from becoming a full-fledged, intolerable surveillance state, where personal freedom is decimated, is it crucial that lawmakers restore sound money by adhering to the Constitution's monetary provisions.
