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Senate Passes Bill to Combat Catalytic Converter Theft

Senator Anwar Votes To Bolster Youth Mental Health Services,
Support More Social Workers in School and Help Child Care Providers

HARTFORD – In response to catalytic converter thefts surging in Connecticut and across the country, the state Senate this afternoon passed a bipartisan and comprehensive anti-catalytic converter theft bill designed to kill the criminal market for stolen catalytic converters.

Senate Bill 256, “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OR RECEIPT OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS BY MOTOR VEHICLE RECYCLERS, SCRAP METAL PROCESSORS AND JUNK DEALERS,” was passed on a bipartisan basis in the Senate and now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“In order to comprehensively manage the juvenile justice issue and concern over car and car part thefts, we need a multi-pronged approach. This is one of those prongs,” said State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), who voted in support of the bill. “By making it more difficult for criminals to sell these automotive parts, we remove the incentive for them to steal them in the first place, hopefully putting a stop to the practice.”

About half the states in America have already passed or are considering passing new bills pertaining to catalytic converter theft, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. Like other states, Connecticut’s bill attempts to kill the market for stolen catalytic converters so thieves have no incentive to steal them in the first place.

Senate Bill 256 accomplishes this in several ways, affecting both vehicle recycling companies and junk yards. Under the bill:

• Motor vehicle recyclers in Connecticut cannot take a catalytic converter from a customer unless:
• It is physically attached to a motor vehicle;
• The recycler affixes or writes a stock number on the part, and creates a written record of the transaction, including the name, address, telephone number and license number and automobile VIN number of the customer.
• For scrap metal processors, junk dealers and junk yards, they cannot accept a catalytic converter that is not attached to a motor vehicle unless:
• They record the place and date of the transaction, a description of the catalytic converter, and the amount paid;
• Records a description of the seller and the seller’s name, address and driver’s license number;
• Affixes or writes a stock number on the catalytic converter;
• Records the license number plate number of the motor vehicle that was used to transport the catalytic converter;
• Obtains from the seller a statement that they own the catalytic converter;
• Takes a photograph or video of the seller and their driver’s license;
• Sellers may sell only one catalytic converter per day to a scrap metal dealer;
• Scrap metal processors and junk dealers can only pay a seller by check, which is mailed to their home address;
• Scrap metal processors and junk dealers have to electronically submit all of their catalytic converter sales information to state police once a week.

If approved by the legislature and signed into law, Connecticut’s catalytic converter theft bill would take effect on July 1.

As precious metals prices soar, catalytic converter thefts have increased all across America. Catalytic converters contain the precious metals rhodium, palladium and platinum, and prices for those precious metals have increased 123% to 1,100% since 2018. For example, rhodium, which was selling for $1,850 an ounce in 2018, has been selling for $20,250 an ounce in 2022. 90 percent of the world’s rhodium is used in automobile catalytic converters, where it is used to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in exhaust gases that are emitted out the tailpipe and into the atmosphere.

As precious metals prices have spiked, so have catalytic converter thefts. Thefts were up 326% nationally from 2019 to 2020, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), an industry association set up to combat insurance fraud. Catalytic converter thefts then jumped another 293% nationwide from mid-2020 to mid-2021, according to the State Farm insurance company.

The NICB says the rise in catalytic converter thefts has been driven not only by the rise in precious metals prices, but by the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years. People lost income after being laid-off or reduced to working part-time, more people were working at home and leaving their parked outside, and supply chain disruptions caused shortages of already rare precious metals. It only takes a few minutes for criminals with simple tools to steal a catalytic converter that may bring them $150 cash at a junkyard, but which can cost a car owner several hundred to several thousand dollars to replace, depending on their insurance.

Senator Anwar Joins Senate Passage of Legislation Ensuring Prison Inmates Receive Proper Health Care

Legislation addresses physical and mental health of incarcerated people

Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), Senate Vice Chair of the Public Health Committee, joined the Senate in its passage of legislation ensuring incarcerated people receive full medical care. Connecticut, currently the only state where the Department of Corrections oversees and operates its inmate health care system, has seen that system lead to significant gaps in care that harm individuals’ long-term health. These have cost the state millions of dollars in lawsuits.

“No matter the history that causes someone to serve a prison sentence, they still have basic rights, including the right to receive health care,” said Sen. Anwar. “In our state, many have suffered and some have died without receiving that basic aid. This bill serves our state in ensuring incarcerated people receive health care services that will aid them both acutely and preventatively. It further will seek to reduce, and hopefully end, incidents where incarcerated people who suffer without care sue the state – which has cost Connecticut millions of dollars in the past.”

Senate Bill 448, “An Act Concerning The Delivery of Health Care and Mental Health Care Services To Inmates of Correctional Institutions,” seeks to address the issue of inmate care. The legislation would require the Department of Correction to develop a plan for the provision of health care services, including mental health care, substance use disorder and dental care services to inmates. The plan would include the following requirements:

• Additional mental health therapists placed at each correctional institution in the state
• Those care providers would provide mental health services for inmates requesting or referring such services, once it’s determined an inmate needs such services
• Mental health care providers can only administer or prescribe psychotropic medications to inmates upon full review of mental health and medical history
• Inmates will receive annual physical exams by physicians, physician assistants or nurses, as well as within two weeks of entering a correctional institution
• Inmates needing medical or mental health housing will receive necessary accommodations
• Inmates will receive exit interviews within two weeks of discharge, including discussion of medical discharge plans for continued care or treatment needed
• A physician will be on-call 24/7 on site to aid inmates
• Within ten weeks of entry of correctional institution and at least once annually, inmates will receive access to necessary and approved vaccinations and dental examinations with dental care recommendations made
• Inmates can receive HIV tests upon request at time of entry to correctional institutions or during annual physical assessments
• Inmates will be interviewed regarding drug and alcohol use history and care will be taken to monitor them in case of withdrawal syndromes

The legislation further establishes an advisory committee for the advisory of the Commissioner of Correction regarding health care services, monitoring whether a state agency like the Department of Public Health should have oversight over such services, and reviewing all reports involving death or health of inmates.

In 2016, the Department of Corrections reported 25 prisoner medical cases that went wrong, including eight inmate deaths; several of those cases led to lawsuits, costing the state millions. In March 2019, the Office of Fiscal Analysis reported the Department of Corrections had just one nurse on staff for every 43 inmates and one doctor or physician assistant on staff for every 579 prisoners, indicating inadequate health care.

The bill now moves to the House; it previously passed the Public Health Committee by a 26-3 vote in March.