Assembly Bill A5585

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5585
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 18, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Operations
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  lands law and the real property law, in
   relation to establishing central depository databases for governmental
   real property transaction records

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  2 of the public lands law is
 amended by adding five new paragraphs c, d, e,  f,  and  g  to  read  as
 follows:
   C. "DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY" SHALL MEAN:
   (I) A TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYED IN A DISTRIBUTED FASHION AND SHARED ACROSS A
 NETWORK  THAT,  WHEN  USED  IN CONJUNCTION WITH CRYPTOGRAPHIC SOLUTIONS,
 ENABLE AUDITABLE DATA SHARING ACROSS  A  NETWORK  OF  UNTRUSTED  PARTIC-
 IPANTS; AND
   (II)  A  SYSTEM  THAT  ALLOWS  MULTIPLE  PARTIES TO SHARE AND UPDATE A
 COMMON DATA SOURCE WITHOUT REQUIRING THE PARTY TO  RELY  ON  ANY  SINGLE
 PARTY TO MAINTAIN AND VALIDATE THE DATA.
   D. "TOKENIZATION" SHALL MEAN THE PROCESS OF CREATING DIGITAL OWNERSHIP
 OF REAL WORLD ASSETS.
   E.  "DIGITALIZATION"  SHALL MEAN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING INFORMATION
 INTO A DIGITAL FORMAT.
   F. "BLOCKCHAIN" SHALL MEAN ANY TECHNOLOGY WHERE DATA IS:
   (I) SHARED ACROSS A NETWORK TO CREATE  A  PUBLIC  LEDGER  OF  VERIFIED
 TRANSACTIONS OR INFORMATION AMONG PARTICIPANTS;
   (II) LINKED USING CRYPTOGRAPHY TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE PUBLIC
 LEDGER AND TO EXECUTE OTHER FUNCTIONS;
   (III)  DISTRIBUTED  AMONG NETWORK PARTICIPANTS IN AN AUTOMATED FASHION
 TO CONCURRENTLY UPDATE NETWORK PARTICIPANTS ON THE STATE OF  THE  PUBLIC
 LEDGER AND ANY OTHER FUNCTIONS; AND
   (IV) COMPOSED OF SOURCE CODE THAT IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09839-01-5
              

 A. 5585                             2
 
   G.  "FEDERATED  BLOCKCHAIN" SHALL MEAN A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY
 SYSTEM:
   (I)  IN  WHICH  A PRE-SELECTED GROUP OF ENTITIES, RATHER THAN A SINGLE
 ENTITY OR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR VALIDATING TRANSACTIONS
 AND MAINTAINING CONSENSUS ON THE STATE OF THE LEDGER;
   (II) IN WHICH CONTROL AND GOVERNANCE ARE  PROCESSED  MORE  EFFICIENTLY
 COMPARED  TO  PUBLIC  BLOCKCHAINS  DUE  TO  THE  PERMISSIONED NATURE AND
 STREAMLINED CONSENSUS MECHANISMS; AND
   (III) WHICH ENABLES SECURE COLLABORATION AND DATA SHARING AMONG MULTI-
 PLE ORGANIZATIONS, FINDING APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES,  INCLUDED
 BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO  SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, HEALTHCARE AND FINANCIAL
 SERVICES.
   § 2. The public lands law is amended by adding a new  section  2-c  to
 read as follows:
   §  2-C.  CENTRAL DEPOSITORY DATABASE FOR GOVERNMENTAL PROPERTY. 1. THE
 COMMISSIONER OF GENERAL SERVICES MAY ESTABLISH AND  MAINTAIN  A  CENTRAL
 DEPOSITORY  DATABASE  FOR  GOVERNMENTAL REAL PROPERTY TO COMPILE, STORE,
 MAINTAIN, AND SECURE GOVERNMENT REAL ESTATE RECORDS. SUCH DATABASE SHALL
 PROVIDE REDUNDANT, IMMUTABLE, AND PERMISSIONED DATA  CONTROLLED  THROUGH
 DISTRIBUTED  LEDGER  TECHNOLOGY, INCREASE EFFICIENCY FOR STATE AGENCIES,
 AND CREATE TRANSPARENCY WHILE MAINTAINING PROPER SECURITY.
   2. THE COMMISSIONER OF GENERAL SERVICES, IN CONJUNCTION WITH  RELEVANT
 STATE AGENCIES, MAY CREATE AND IMPLEMENT A STRATEGY TO ADOPT DISTRIBUTED
 LEDGER  TECHNOLOGY  THAT USES TOKENIZATION AND DIGITALIZATION WITHIN THE
 AGENCY WHEREBY DATA IS STORED SECURELY AND PERMANENTLY  ON  A  FEDERATED
 BLOCKCHAIN  FOR  THE PURPOSE OF PROPERLY SECURING GOVERNMENT REAL ESTATE
 RECORDS AND PREVENTING IMPROPER ACCESS TO AND HACKING OF SUCH RECORDS.
   3. THE DATA STORED IN SUCH  DISTRIBUTED  LEDGER  TECHNOLOGY  SHALL  BE
 ACCESSIBLE TO STATE AGENCIES, MUNICIPALITIES, AND TAXPAYERS.
   §  3.  Subdivision  12  of  section  290  of the real property law, as
 amended by chapter 549 of the laws  of  2011,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   12. "DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY" SHALL MEAN:
   (A) A TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYED IN A DISTRIBUTED FASHION AND SHARED ACROSS A
 NETWORK  THAT,  WHEN  USED  IN CONJUNCTION WITH CRYPTOGRAPHIC SOLUTIONS,
 ENABLE AUDITABLE DATA SHARING ACROSS  A  NETWORK  OF  UNTRUSTED  PARTIC-
 IPANTS; AND
   (B) A SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS MULTIPLE PARTIES TO SHARE AND UPDATE A COMMON
 DATA  SOURCE  WITHOUT REQUIRING THE PARTY TO RELY ON ANY SINGLE PARTY TO
 MAINTAIN AND VALIDATE THE DATA.
   13. "TOKENIZATION" SHALL MEAN THE PROCESS OF CREATING  DIGITAL  OWNER-
 SHIP OF REAL WORLD ASSETS.
   14.  "DIGITALIZATION" SHALL MEAN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING INFORMATION
 INTO A DIGITAL FORMAT.
   15. "BLOCKCHAIN" SHALL MEAN ANY TECHNOLOGY WHERE DATA IS:
   (A) SHARED ACROSS A NETWORK TO CREATE  A  PUBLIC  LEDGER  OF  VERIFIED
 TRANSACTIONS OR INFORMATION AMONG PARTICIPANTS;
   (B)  LINKED USING CRYPTOGRAPHY TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE PUBLIC
 LEDGER AND TO EXECUTE OTHER FUNCTIONS;
   (C) DISTRIBUTED AMONG NETWORK PARTICIPANTS IN AN AUTOMATED FASHION  TO
 CONCURRENTLY  UPDATE  NETWORK  PARTICIPANTS  ON  THE STATE OF THE PUBLIC
 LEDGER AND ANY OTHER FUNCTIONS; AND
   (D) COMPOSED OF SOURCE CODE THAT IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
   16. "FEDERATED BLOCKCHAIN" SHALL MEAN A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER  TECHNOLOGY
 SYSTEM:
 A. 5585                             3
 
   (A)  IN  WHICH  A PRE-SELECTED GROUP OF ENTITIES, RATHER THAN A SINGLE
 ENTITY OR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR VALIDATING TRANSACTIONS
 AND MAINTAINING CONSENSUS ON THE STATE OF THE LEDGER;
   (B)  IN  WHICH  CONTROL  AND GOVERNANCE ARE PROCESSED MORE EFFICIENTLY
 COMPARED TO PUBLIC  BLOCKCHAINS  DUE  TO  THE  PERMISSIONED  NATURE  AND
 STREAMLINED CONSENSUS MECHANISMS; AND
   (C) WHICH ENABLES SECURE COLLABORATION AND DATA SHARING AMONG MULTIPLE
 ORGANIZATIONS,  FINDING APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES, INCLUDED BUT
 NOT  LIMITED  TO  SUPPLY  CHAIN  MANAGEMENT,  HEALTHCARE  AND  FINANCIAL
 SERVICES.
   17.  This  article,  WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-
 ONE-K OF THIS ARTICLE, does not apply to leases for life  or  lives,  or
 for  years, heretofore made, of lands in either of the counties of Alba-
 ny, Ulster, Sullivan, Herkimer, Dutchess, Columbia, Delaware or Schenec-
 tady.
   § 4. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 291-k to
 read as follows:
   § 291-K. CENTRAL DEPOSITORY DATABASE FOR REAL  PROPERTY  TRANSACTIONS.
 1.    THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE COUNTY OR CITY REGISTRAR MAY, WHERE
 APPLICABLE, ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A  CENTRAL  DEPOSITORY  DATABASE  FOR
 GOVERNMENTAL  REAL PROPERTY TO COMPILE, STORE, MAINTAIN, AND SECURE REAL
 ESTATE RECORDS. SUCH DATABASE SHALL PROVIDE  REDUNDANT,  IMMUTABLE,  AND
 PERMISSIONED  DATA  CONTROLLED  THROUGH  DISTRIBUTED  LEDGER TECHNOLOGY,
 INCREASE EFFICIENCY FOR STATE AGENCIES, AND  CREATE  TRANSPARENCY  WHILE
 MAINTAINING PROPER SECURITY.
   2.  THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE COUNTY OR CITY REGISTRAR MAY, WHERE
 APPLICABLE, CREATE AND IMPLEMENT A STRATEGY TO ADOPT DISTRIBUTED  LEDGER
 TECHNOLOGY  THAT  USES TOKENIZATION AND DIGITALIZATION WITHIN THE AGENCY
 WHEREBY DATA IS STORED SECURELY AND PERMANENTLY ON  A  FEDERATED  BLOCK-
 CHAIN  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  PROPERLY  SECURING  GOVERNMENT REAL ESTATE
 RECORDS AND PREVENTING IMPROPER ACCESS TO AND HACKING OF SUCH RECORDS.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.