STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2963

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2742

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2742 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THEFT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the offense of theft of a catalytic converter as a class C felony.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Stolen Stuff Hawaii, and four individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that a catalytic converter is a device incorporated in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle, containing a catalyst, including palladium, platinum, and rhodium, for converting pollutant gases into less harmful ones. Your Committee further finds that catalytic converter theft is on the rise in part due to the rise in prices associated with the precious catalyst metals. The relative ease and speed in which a thief can remove a catalytic converter, coupled with the financial reward a thief can reap selling the scrap metal is what drives the thefts. Installing a replacement catalytic converter costs hundreds to thousands of dollars, and because thieves try to remove the catalytic converters as quickly as possible, their hastiness often causes repair costs to be higher due to other areas of the car being damaged. This measure would establish the offense of theft of a catalytic converter and scrap dealer requirements to deter catalytic converter theft.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding the requirement that scrap dealers follow the same reporting process regarding a written statement for the purchase of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and a scrap catalytic converter from which some or all of the catalyst metals have been removed, as is required for the purchase of copper, beer kegs, and urns; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2742, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2742, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair