Assemblywoman Shea Backus has introduced Assembly Bill 231 which updates provisions of The Uniform Commercial Code and changes the definition of money on pages 18 and 19 of the bill. Essentially, the bill paves the way for federal government Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and, according to critics of the bill, paves the way for Social Credit Scores–a social credit system implemented by the Chinese Communist Party to monitor and control their population. 

The definition of money from AB 231 is defined in the Exhibits as “a medium of exchange that is currently authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The term includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or more countries. The term does not include an electronic record (like Bitcoin) that is a medium of exchange recorded and transferable in a system that existed and operated for the medium of exchange before the medium of exchange was authorized or adopted by the government.” 

This bill, therefore, does not define independent digital currency like Bitcoin as money. Only Government Digital Currency will be considered money. 

These changes to the Uniform Commercial Code are spearheaded and drafted by the Uniform Law Commission. The chief counsel of the commission, Benjamin Orzeske, has provided three exhibits in support of AB231.

“That definition [of money] doesn’t work with a theoretical electronic money,” Benjamin Orzeske, the chief counsel with the Uniform Law Commission, said last month. “If electronic money ever exists at some point in the future it will be impossible to possess, but it will be possible to control. And so that’s what the definition of control and the definition of electronic money is meant to anticipate.”

According to the commission, as noted in the exhibits: “The latest updates are the 2022 amendments, which accommodate emerged and emerging technologies such as distributed ledger technology (a type of which is known as “blockchain”), and artificial intelligence. The amendments bring the UCC into the digital age by providing commercial law rules for a new category of transactions: the transfer and leveraging of virtual currencies and certain other digital assets. A state should adopt the amendments to facilitate modern commercial transactions involving these technologies and these assets, thus avoiding the obstacles and lack of clarity under the current law that inhibit transactions or increase their costs.”

The South Dakota legislature recently passed a similar bill but was vetoed by Governor Kristi Noem. According to Noem, the bill was sold as an update to the Uniform Commercial Code. In an interview after her veto she noted, “We’ve got the same language coming to over 20 other states. I believe it’s to pave the way for the federal government to control our currency and thus control people. It should be alarming to everyone, and it’s being sold as a UCC guidelines update.”

Nevada’s Keystone Corporation released their statement of opposition to AB231, noting: “Simply put, this is a threat to our financial freedom. AB231 changes the definition of currency which paves the way for the federal government to control our currency and thus control businesses and individuals. This bill could lead to federal government interference in the economic marketplace and could essentially allow for a “Social Credit Score” system to take hold, like in China, that will allow the federal government to make decisions on whether or not your business will fail or succeed.”

The bill is scheduled to be heard this morning in front of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary.

Editors note:  According to a statement from Assm. Backus, the bill was heard on March 8th without opposition testimony.