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6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 30, 2025 POLITICS & POLICY Friendly support Fonfara's precious metals bill was the subject of a public hearing in April, but only one person testified to support it — Erik Bartone, a partner in Cygnus Financial Group, a family-owned finan- cial management firm in Glastonbury. Bartone also is owner and presi- dent of DBS Energy Inc., as well as a longtime friend of Fonfara's and his former business partner in Wattifi, a third-party electricity supplier that shut down in 2023, during a dispute with state utility regulators. In his testimony, Bartone called the bill "a bold, forward-thinking effort" to provide residents with a way to "safeguard their savings, diversify their holdings, and protect them- selves from the long-term effects of inflation and monetary instability." Since the U.S. severed from the gold standard in 1971, he said, the value of the dollar as measured in gold has fallen more than 98%. In 1971, he noted, the median U.S. home cost about $25,000, while gold was $35 an ounce. "That meant it took 714 ounces of gold to purchase a home," Bartone said. Today, with homes valued at about $400,000 and gold trading at $3,100 an ounce, "it now takes only 129 ounces of gold to buy a home," an 80% decrease. "Gold has protected the ability to buy essential goods like housing. The dollar has not," he said. Not giving up Following the public hearing in April, a substitute version of Fonfara's bill was developed, seeking only to create the working group and extend the tax exemption to specific sales of precious metals — and setting the effective date for that as Jan. 1, 2026. However, that bill hit a financial snag. The legislature's Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) said extending the exemption to all precious-metal purchases would cost the state $650,000 in revenue in fiscal 2026, and $1.3 million in fiscal 2027. Both Fonfara and Bartone say the OFA analysis was wrong, but the bill still was unanimously approved by the finance committee, and eventu- ally moved to the Senate. The bill never came up for a vote, but somewhere along the way, two sections of the legislation were added to the budget bill, along with the change pushing the effective date for the tax exemption to July 1, 2027. Ultimately, the budget bill passed the House and Senate. For his part, Fonfara says he'll try to get the fiscal note corrected or find the money to make up the differ- ence, with the goal of making the tax exemption take effect next year. Join Donny Marshall & Friends Donny Marshall Charity Classic, Lake of Isles, Aug. 10-11th. Limited foursomes available. To learn more scan code or visit jay@elkinsonsloves.com Join some of the biggest and tallest names in sport as the 21st Century Tolland Fund continues to help give young athletes with disabilities the chance they deserve. Event includes: • Opening Night VIP Welcome Reception • On-course Highland Park Market Grill • Waypoint Spirits, Lawson's Finest and Molson Coors spirit zones • A1 Toyota and Harley-Davidson Hole in One Challenges • Post golf celebrity reception, Joshua Worldwide Transit Celebrity Auction and Awards Dinner AUG. 10-11, 2025 Design | Print | Mail MARKETING PARTNERS: PREMIER: DIAMOND: Gold and Silver Continued from page 5 PRICE OF GOLD IN U.S. 6/2015 $3,500 $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 6/2017 6/2022 6/2019 6/2024 6/2016 6/2021 6/2018 6/2023 6/2020 6/2025 PRICE PER OUNCE Source: Yahoo Finance