The Minnesota Senate on Tuesday approved final passage of a comprehensive, bipartisan Commerce and Energy budget that is a consumer-focused bill, meant to empower consumers to make smart decisions without implementing costly mandates or over-regulation. Included in this bill is important language authored by Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) that focuses on addressing the growing rate of catalytic converter thefts.

“Catalytic converter thefts have become a huge problem and have been affecting Minnesotans throughout the state, mainly because they are easy to steal quickly and have an extremely high resale value,” said Sen. Housley. “When resellers buy this item, there’s typically no way for them to determine if the part has been stolen or not. With this pilot program, at least Minnesotans have the option of protecting their catalytic converters at no personal cost. If this program is far-reaching enough, these converters may be harder to grab, and the market for them is reduced. I’m hopeful that including this important program in the Commerce and Energy budget will help deter future potential thieves.”

This pilot program will fund etching catalytic converters with vehicle identification numbers or other unique identifiers in an effort to curve theft rates. Minnesota has seen a recent uptick in catalytic converter thefts and this proposed solution will help the public take preventative steps to protect their property.

The Commerce Budget bill now heads to the Governor for a final signature.