Photo: Moment RF
The Texas Senate has officially passed Senate Bill 988, which is aimed at cracking down on tampering with fuel pumps and stealing fuel. The bill was authored by State Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and passed with a bipartisan 29-2 vote. It is now headed to the House.
One specific issue the bill focuses on is the practice of damaging the "pulsers" on fuel pumps, which allows criminals to steal thousands of gallons of fuel from the pumps.
Senator Bettencourt's office put out a statement on the passing of the bill through the Senate, saying, "SB 988 gives our law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to stop these organized fuel theft rings. Just one tanker truck load could cost $35,000 in stolen fuel, plus the gang then sells the gas on the grey market."
He went on to say that this is an example of organized crime: "In the two years since this bill nearly passed unanimously, we have now taken testimony that these organized crime rings are buying devices to disrupt pulsers online for $200 each, meaning this indeed is organized crime on a large scale."