Editing Uniform act (section)

{{Short description|Proposed U.S. state law}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}}

In the [[United States]], a '''uniform act''' is a proposed [[State law (United States)|state law]] drafted and approved by the [[Uniform Law Commission]] (ULC), also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL).<ref name="Hein">{{cite web | title = National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws | publisher = HeinOnline.org | url = https://heinonline.org/HeinDocs/NCCUSL.pdf  | access-date = 2020-06-23 }}</ref>

[[Federalism in the United States]] traditionally limits the legislative authority of the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] in favor of the [[U.S. state|states]]. Specifically, the [[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Tenth Amendment]] of the [[U.S. Constitution|United States Constitution]] states that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CONAN-1992/pdf/GPO-CONAN-1992-10-11.pdf | title =TENTH AMENDMENT ---- RESERVED POWERS ---- CONTENTS | author =United States Government Printing Office | author-link =United States Government Printing Office | publisher =gpo.gov}}</ref> Therefore, state governments are free to enact unique laws in any area beyond the purview of [[federal preemption]]. Under [[Erie doctrine|the doctrine]] of ''[[Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins]]'' (1938), federal courts cannot dictate law to states on pure issues of state common law (i.e., almost all of contract, tort, and family law). However, a variety of legal issues regularly transcend state lines, which makes a predictable and relatively uniform set of laws across states a desirable objective. "Uniform acts" are collaboratively written model laws intended to facilitate the enactment of identical or similar laws by the separate states. Such laws are distinct from [[interstate compact]]s.