Arizona’s Governor Katie Hobbs recently vetoed a bill that proposed permitting the state’s treasurer and retirement systems to allocate up to 10% of their funds into digital currencies like bitcoin. She dismissed the idea of using cryptocurrencies as an unproven investment.
In a letter elucidating her veto, Hobbs, a Democrat, stated, “The Arizona State Retirement System is ranked among the nation’s top due to its prudent and well-informed investment strategies. The state’s retirement funds are not the platform to experiment with untested investments such as digital currency.”
The bill had bipartisan support, with two Republican State Legislature members co-sponsoring it, and both the Republican-led state Senate and House of Representatives approving it on April 26. Hobbs, however, had previously made it known that she wouldn’t sanction any new legislation until a bipartisan funding solution, which safeguards healthcare for Arizonans with disabilities, was passed by the state legislature.
Hobbs’ veto has drawn criticism from influential figures in the Bitcoin community on X. Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey responded, “Impeach Katie Hobbs, she just let down Arizona.”
Other states, notably Iowa, Missouri, and Texas, are contemplating their own bitcoin strategic reserve bills, although none have been enacted into law at this point.
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