Article 9 and lien-related legislation
Texas: House Bill 1823 was introduced on 2/3/2023 to amend fraudulent lien law so it also applies to fraudulent conveyance documents for real and personal property. Committee assignment is pending.
Virginia: House Bill 2184, which would establish a procedure for a settlement agent to release a specific piece of property from a judgment lien, passed the House on 2/2/2023 and is pending in the Senate.
Other uniform laws legislation (includes the 2022 Amendments to the UCC with UCC Article 12, Controllable Electronic Records)
Arizona: House Bill 2770 was introduced on 2/6/2023 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), including UCC Article 12, Controllable Electronic Records, and related amendments. Committee assignment is pending.
Indiana: Senate Bill 468, which would enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, passed the Senate on 2/9/2023 and is pending in the House.
Kentucky: Senate Bill 64 was introduced on 2/7/2023 to enact the 2022 Amendments to the UCC, including UCC Article 12, Controllable Electronic Records, and related amendments. Committee assignment is pending.
Oregon: House Bill 2330, which would adopt the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, passed the House on 2/7/2023 and is pending in the Senate.
Emerging technology legislation (blockchain, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency, etc.)
Illinois: Senate Bill 1239 was introduced on 2/2/2023 to amend the definition of “data center” to include cryptocurrency mining operations that meet certain criteria for purposes of tax credit incentives. Committee assignment is pending.
Mississippi: Senate Bill 2603, which would create the State Digital Asset Mining Act, passed the Senate on 2/8/2023. The bill would prohibit political subdivisions of the state from placing certain limitations on home digital asset mining and business digital asset mining operations. The bill is pending committee assignment in the House.
New Mexico: House Bill 356 was introduced on 2/8/2023 to adopt the Technology Sandbox Act, which would provide regulatory waivers to certain applicants that provide an innovative use of blockchain technology. The bill was assigned to multiple committees.
Texas: Senate Bill 770 was introduced on 2/7/2023 to regulate digital asset service providers. The bill would prohibit a digital asset service provider from commingling customer funds with the digital asset service provider’s own funds. It would also require a digital asset service provider to meet certain reserve requirements, develop certain plans, and make reports to the department of banking. In addition, the bill would require a digital asset service provider to obtain a money transmission license. Committee assignment is pending. This appears similar to House Bill 1666, which was introduced in January.
Utah: House Bill 289, which would create a registry for non-custodial blockchain companies in the state, passed the House on 2/6/2023 and is pending in the Senate.
Virginia: House Bill 1784, which would address emerging technology issues, passed the House on 2/7/2023 and is pending in the Senate. The bill would provide exemptions from securities registration laws for the issuers or sellers of digital tokens or distributed autonomous organizations (DAOs) and requires the state corporations commission to develop a process for the seller of digital tokens to file a notice of intent. The bill also would adopt the Virginia Decentralized Autonomous Organization Act, which provides for the formation and governance of DAOs.
Business organization legislation
Indiana: House Bill 1581, which would amend certain state business organization laws, passed the House on 2/9/2023 and is pending in the Senate. This bill would (i) apply certain business laws to business trusts and agricultural cooperatives; (ii) remove the requirement that articles of incorporation for agricultural cooperatives be acknowledged before a notary; and (iii) remove the requirement for licensure of principal managers.
New York: Assembly Bill 3484 was introduced on 2/3/2023 to adopt beneficial ownership reporting requirements modeled on the Federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The bill incorporates definitions from the federal CTA regulations and has similar reporting requirements. However, the state bill omits the requirement for a company to report company applicant information. The bill was assigned to the Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee.
Notary legislation
Mississippi: House Bill 821, which would make non-residents eligible for a notary commission if they are an employee in or have a practice in Mississippi, passed the House on 2/9/2023 and is pending in the Senate.
New York: Assembly Bill 4124 was introduced on 2/9/2023 to require that banks and credit unions have a notary public available on the premises during regular business hours. The bill was assigned to the Assembly Banks Committee.
New York: Senate Bill 4166 was introduced on 2/3/2023 to increase the fees that a notary may charge for certain notarial acts from $2 to $5. The bill was assigned to the Senate Finance Committee.
South Carolina: House Bill 3907 was introduced on 2/8/2023 to increase the fees that a notary may charge for certain notarial acts from $5 to $10. The bill was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
Real estate recording-related legislation
Arizona: House Bill 2683 was introduced on 2/6/2023 to impose a 100% tax on the transfer of title in residential real property to an institutional investor. The county recorder would be required to collect the tax. Committee assignment is pending.
Connecticut: House Bill 6648 was introduced on 2/9/2023 to require the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to (i) establish a commission for the online recording, indexing, and searching of municipal land records and maps, and (ii) create and maintain an online database for the recording, indexing, and searching of municipal land records and maps. The bill was assigned to the Joint Planning and Development Committee.
Maryland: House Bill 845 was introduced on 2/9/2023 to prohibit a person from recording a deed or instrument that the person knows contains false information. Committee assignment is pending.
Other items and legislation of interest
Colorado: House Bill 1170 was introduced on 2/2/2023 to provide for the use of distributed ledger technology in elections. The bill would establish a process for using tokens and distributed ledger technology to verify voter eligibility and allow the public to access the distributed ledgers to confirm votes are counted accurately. The bill was assigned to the House State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Mississippi: House Bill 880, which would adopt the Mississippi Consumer Privacy Act, passed the House on 2/9/2023 and is pending in the Senate.
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Note that this update provides only a short summary of the listed bills, which are often lengthy and complex. It is not intended to include all potentially relevant provisions of each bill. For full details, please review the bill on the applicable state legislative web site.