Colorado lawmakers are backing multiple bills seeking to confront rising thefts of catalytic converters, with a House panel advancing another converter theft-related measure on Tuesday.

If passed, House Bill 1217 would create a grant program to raise awareness of catalytic converter theft by funding public information campaigns, theft prevention, victim assistance and catalytic converter identification and tracking efforts. The bill would allocate roughly $300,000 per year through 2025 for 30 grants of $10,000. 

“It’s not an easy answer and it’s not going to be a miracle overnight, but we think it’s a huge step in the right direction,” said bill sponsor Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Denver. “Theft of a catalytic converter can be devastating for some people. They aren’t able to get to work, they might not have insurance for that, and to come up with money to replace it is a huge problem.”

Catalytic converters are exhaust emission control devices found in many lower emission and hybrid vehicles that contain precious metals that are trading at record prices. Without a catalytic converter, vehicles become legally, and in some cases functionally, inoperable. 

Catalytic converter thefts in Colorado increased by more than 5,000% from 2019 to 2021, going from 189 to 9,811 reported thefts annually, according to the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority. In Denver, catalytic converter thefts rose by 15,000% in the same timeframe – from 15 to 2,359 – according to data from the Denver Police Department.

“It has put dealers out of business, and it hurts them financially nearly every day,” said David Cardella, CEO of the Colorado Independent Automobile Dealers Association. “I had a dealer that just got hit over the weekend, 10 vehicles’ catalytic converters were stolen. … That will dry up not only the supply chain for consumers to be able to purchase vehicles, but it will also make that dealer pay interest costs on those cars as he waits for parts to come in for replacement.”

In Colorado, it can take several weeks to several months to get a new catalytic converter, with prices ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, Cardella said. 

HB-1217 is the second bill this legislative session aiming to tackle catalytic converter thefts. Senate Bill 9 – advanced by a Senate panel on Feb. 8 – would require auto part recyclers to use a national registry to determine whether a catalytic converter has been stolen. If both bills pass, HB-1217 would also require audits of auto part recyclers to assure they are complying with SB-009.

“(The thefts have) had a tremendous impact on our constituents,” said Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, the other sponsor of HB-1217. “It’s necessary for those in the criminal justice world to be able to do some tracing and tracking to get to the root of the issue and hopefully curb some of this activity in the future.”

A House panel advanced HB-1217 in an 8-3 vote Tuesday, with Republican representatives Terri Carver of Colorado Springs, Stephanie Luck of Penrose and Mike Lynch of Wellington voting against the bill.

“My difficulty in voting ‘yes’ today is that the audit is totally based upon the data points and requirements in a bill that we have not acted on,” Carver said, pointing out that SB-009 has not yet reached the House for consideration. “I may very well support SB-009 and, if I support that, I will support this, but I’m not really in a position to judge.”

Criticisms of the bill included that it would not address supply chain issues resulting from the increase in catalytic converter thefts.

Cardella urged lawmakers to consider legislation that would allow the use of used catalytic converters, which is currently banned in Colorado under emissions standards. The initial draft of SB-009 included a section to allow the reuse of aftermarket catalytic converters, but a panel removed the section during a vote earlier this month.

“This legislation just doesn’t go far enough,” Cardella said. “The grants to purchase the part doesn’t change the delay issue of accessing parts in Colorado.”