Witnesses urge full adoption of 2022 UCC amendments; committee told omission was drafting error
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Summary
Experts and industry groups urged the House committee to adopt the 2022 Uniform Commercial Code amendments in full rather than only Article 12; witnesses warned that passing only part of the UCC could create inconsistent definitions and legal uncertainty and said the omission was due to a drafting/communication error.
Steve Leites, chair of the Maryland Commission on Uniform State Laws, told the committee that Maryland should adopt the 2022 Uniform Commercial Code amendments in full. He warned that if Article 12 (controllable electronic records) were enacted without the related definitional and perfection changes, that mismatch could produce legal uncertainty and transactional friction.
Jacqueline Cooper, testifying virtually for the Maryland Blockchain Association, said the amendments modernize commerce by recognizing digital records and clarifying how digital assets can be used as collateral. Ben Orzewski, chief counsel at the Uniform Law Commission, added that Article 12 is the first new UCC article in more than 30 years and urged uniform adoption to preserve interstate commercial predictability.
Vice chair and other members asked why the senate had sent only part of the UCC; Delaney Gray, legislative director for Senator Ron Watson, said the omission resulted from a drafting error and confirmed the senator intends the House to consider the bill with the accompanying amendments. Committee members agreed to follow up on that drafting/communication failure and the hearing concluded without a committee vote.
