One of the great joys of my job is greeting district constituents when they visit the Capitol. Recently I was honored to have several distinguished visitors.
This week I welcomed my pastor, Steve Proctor, and his wife, Nancy, of Westwood Baptist Church. Our church does amazing things for the community. For instance, we sponsor RU Recovery Program, a biblically-based recovery program designed to rescue, recover, and restore those in addictive behaviors. We offer free transportation and a free meal, multiple meeting times, and complete curriculum.
One of the core values of RU is family. We offer nursery care, children and teen programs, and mentoring for adults who must manage the distressing consequences of addiction. Our positive atmosphere and practical lessons equip participants with all the tools necessary to experience recovery without relapse. Additionally, we are also working hard on a new building designed to help the less fortunate in our community. The building will be the focus of our efforts to distribute food and clothing to those in need. I appreciate all the other churches in the area with similar programs designed to benefit citizens of our community.
The Proctors visited during a session day so they were able to watch legislative debate. Additionally, I was honored to introduce them on the House floor, and Senator Jason Bean invited them to the dais in that chamber. They also toured the capitol including the whispering gallery, met our great conservative Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, and visited the Governor’s Mansion.
Another distinguished visitor was our long-time Butler County Clerk, Tonyi Deffendall. The county clerk has many duties, the most important of which are maintaining the records of the county commission and overseeing elections. Tonyi has done a fantastic job and I hope everyone takes time to thank her for her 32 years of service to our community.
This week additional progress was made in the continuing battle against catalytic converter theft. The theft of catalytic converters is causing untold devastation in every corner of our state, and it shows no sign of slowing. It causes a great deal of grief because in the process of stealing catalytic converters, thieves cause great damage to vehicles.
Last year we passed a bill that included a provision making catalytic converter theft a Class E Felony. I think this can be an effective deterrent, but additional efforts are needed to combat the unrelenting thefts.
I called General Motors and they plan to start placing Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) on catalytic converters, but this will take a couple years. In the meantime, I am working to pass a bill requiring transactions of catalytic converters to contain the VIN of the originating vehicle. This will allow law enforcement to quickly track thieves and find out exactly where the catalytic converter came from. This week I added the legislation as an amendment to another bill, HB 1637, significantly increasing its chance of passing this year.
May God bless and keep you and our great nation.
Hardy Billington represents District 152.