I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2750 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 8, 2009 Mr. LaTourette (for himself, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Turner, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. McHenry, and Mr. Simpson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To restore the economic rights of automobile dealers, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)Automobile dealers are an asset to automobile manufacturers that make it possible to penetrate communities and sell automobiles nationally. (2)The manufacturers obtain the benefits from having a national dealer network at no material cost to the manufacturers. (3)Historically, automobile dealers have had franchise agreement protections under State law.

3.

Restoration of economic rights

(a)

Preservation of rights

In order to protect assets of the Federal Government, and better assure the viability of automobile manufacturers in which the Federal Government has an ownership interest, no automobile manufacturer in which the Federal Government has an ownership interest may deprive an automobile dealer of its economic rights as they existed prior to the commencement of a bankruptcy case by the manufacturer, including its rights to recourse under State law. (b)

Restoration of franchise agreements

In order to preserve economic rights pursuant to subsection (a), automobile manufacturers covered under this Act shall restore the franchise agreements with automobile dealers that were in effect prior to the commencement of a bankruptcy case by those manufacturers.