The state of Ohio is closer than ever to passing a law to curb catalytic converter theft.
Ohio House Bill 328, which took two years to draft, passed the House earlier this year “and will hopefully pass the Senate in the fall,” said Alex Boehnke, executive director of the Ohio Tire & Automotive Association (OTAA).
The bill would increase penalties for stealing catalytic converters.
MTD recently met with Boehnke in Dublin, Ohio, the site of the annual OTAA golf outing at the Country Club at Muirfield Village, to discuss legislative issues.
“The theft of catalytic converters is a very important issue for our members and their customers,” said Boehnke. “In our opinion, it is too easy to convert the stolen goods into cash.”
“If the law is passed, sellers of catalytic converters will have to provide additional identification. They will have to prove the chain of ownership, and we believe that any reputable company would be happy to do that.”
Boehnke is optimistic that the bill will be passed by the state Senate before the end of the year and then signed by the Ohio governor.
“It has strong bipartisan support,” Boehnke said. “It also has support from the OTAA, other business associations and law enforcement. So we believe there is a good coalition behind the bill and we hope it passes this fall.”
Boehnke is also vice president of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants. The OTAA is one of its member associations.
“Our main goal is advocacy, so I am the association’s and industry’s lead representative at the Statehouse in Columbus. We are always paying attention to issues that could impact the business and retail community.”
The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants tracks more than 200 bills each year, which represents about one-third of all legislative issues before the Ohio General Assembly.
“Currently, the state is in an election year, which means legislative activity is a little less than usual,” he said. “But next winter, work will begin on the semi-annual state budget process. That’s always a time when we keep a close eye on any potential changes in tax law that could impact the tire dealer and other business owners.”
Boehnke also continues to do a lot of regulatory work in the area of used tire regulations “to ensure that the goal of reducing used tires is achieved without imposing unnecessary rules and regulations on legitimate tire dealers.”
