Franchise Legislation (Audio)

Air Date:02/24/2010

By Jenifer Jones

The Senate State Affairs Committee passed a bill that aims to strengthen the state franchise law. House Bill 1088 was created in response to the Chrysler and GM restructuring last year that closed several dealerships in South Dakota. Proponents say the bill won't help those who were affected by the restructuring, but it will help dealers in the future. Senator Gene Abdallah is a sponsor of the bill. He says what happened to the franchisees was unfair.

"Who knows how many jobs were lost in South Dakota as a result of these franchises closing," Abdallah says. "There was no recourse for these dealers to go after GM because they filed bankruptcy. And now they started up again, and they're a new company. They've done everything to dodge the responsibility of these franchisees."

Opponents agree it was devastating for dealerships to close, but say these things need to happen in order to move forward. The bill passed the committee eight to zero, and moves to the Senate floor for further debate.

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