Conversion therapy, catalytic converter prevention, MMBW bills pass Minnesota House

Three significant pieces of legislation are headed to the Minnesota Senate after getting approval from the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Monday afternoon and evening, the Minnesota House debated and voted to pass bills banning conversion therapy, setting new catalytic converter requirements and creating an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women.

The catalytic converter legislation passed by a vote of 113-15; The legislation to create an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women (MMBW) was approved 110-19; The conversion therapy legislation passed by an 81-47 vote.

Bills to ban conversion therapy have been proposed multiple times in past years and while some individual cities in Minnesota already outlaw the practice, it has yet to be banned statewide. Supporters of a statewide ban say conversion therapy involves many harmful practices that often cause anxiety and depression and can lead to suicide while opponents of a ban dispute those points.

RELATED: ‘Conversion therapy’ ban again headed for vote in Minnesota House

The catalytic converter bill comes in response to the rise in catalytic converter thefts and would require anyone buying a catalytic converter to keep detailed receipts of the scrap metal and the person they bought it from.

An Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women (MMBW) would provide more focus on cases of missing and murdered Black women, as the state has done with its Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office and task force.

The bills now head to the Senate, which still needs to pass them before they can head to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk to be signed into law.

Track the progress of those bills and many others throughout the session with KSTP’s Legislative Tracker.