St. Paul, MN -- This evening, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to pass a pair of bills to increase the public safety and wellbeing of Minnesotans.
HF 30 seeks to crack down on the theft of catalytic converters by prohibiting anyone from possessing a used, unattached catalytic converter unless the owner has the vehicle identification number (VIN) for the vehicle, and the date the converter was removed from the vehicle. It prohibits the sale and purchase of catalytic converters by anyone other than registered scrap metal dealers and would impose a fine of up to $10,000 for unlawful possession and sale.
“Law enforcement officials have testified in support of this bill in committees and have told us they cannot arrest their way out of this growing problem,” said Rep. Klevorn. “I’m grateful to the Plymouth Public Safety Department for their work and I’m pleased we’re delivering more tools to prevent and prosecute catalytic converter theft.”
Nationally, catalytic converter thefts have increased from 3,389 in 2019 to 14,433 in 2020, to over 52,000 in 2021 (fifteen-fold increase since 2019). State Farm, meanwhile, estimates that Minnesota ranks in the top five for catalytic cover thefts. In November of 2022, a federal takedown of a catalytic converter theft ring of over a half-billion dollars included more than a dozen search warrants across Minnesota. Plymouth’s Public Safety Department aided in these efforts.
The House also passed HF 16, which would ban conversion ‘therapy’ for minors and vulnerable adults and remove funding from Minnesota’s Medical Assistance (MA) for the practice. Conversion therapy has been identified by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatry Association as a dangerous and discredited practice that has traumatized many LGBTQ+ Americans.
“Any sort of scheme guising itself as ‘therapy’ that leads to depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, and even suicide is not a safe and medically sound practice,” Rep. Klevorn said. “Everyone deserves to be celebrated in our state for who they are, no exceptions.”
Both bills are traveling in the Minnesota Senate.
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