Washington State Radio News Directors, Producers and Reporters:
Attached is a new :77 legislative news wrap from Olympia.
This wrap focuses on new legislation being considered by the House to consider stiffening penalties for catalytic converter theft and prevent the crime from occurring in the first place. This wrap features Rep. Cindy Ryu of Shoreline, sponsor of the bill and chair of the House Community and Economic Development Committee.
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SUGGESTED LEDE: State lawmakers in Olympia are hoping to put the brakes on what might be the fastest rising crime in the nation. Dan Frizzell has more.
WRAP [:77]: If you haven’t thought about your car’s catalytic converter lately, rest assured, someone else is. Theft of this key part of the vehicle’s emission system is off the charts, doubling or tripling annually during the last few years. It’s a crime that can cost victims and insurers hundreds or thousands of dollars every time it happens, and Shoreline state Representative Cindy Ryu says it’s happening far too much. She’s working on legislation in Olympia to bring those numbers down.
RYU: “Catalytic converters have a little honeycomb inside, and inside are several different precious metals, and some of them are thousands of dollars an ounce. Recovery of those precious metals is what they’re going for. The thief might get $200, and yet the impact on the victim is about 10 times that.” [:21]
Ryu, who chairs the House Community and Economic Development Committee, has the support of her fellow Democrats as well as a number of Republicans for her bill that could lead to stiffer penalties for the crime and more effective strategies to prevent it in the first place. The House Public Safety Committee gave the bill a hearing Tuesday and it could be in line for a vote of the full chamber early in this new session. In Olympia, Dan Frizzell.
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