House OKs Treasury funding with auto dealer help

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $24.2 billion bill to fund the U.S. Treasury Department for 2010 and also tries to help automobile dealerships hit by the bankruptcies of Chrysler and General Motors.

The House voted 219-208 for the annual spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1, and it also demands the Obama administration tell Congress by December 1 if it plans to make new loans from the $700 billion financial bailout fund in 2010.

The legislation also includes controversial provisions that try to restore the economic rights of those auto dealerships that have been closed or are facing such a prospect as a result of the bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM.

"Without exerting this lever, we're going to have a crisis in this country and an economic recovery will not be possible if we continue to throw people out of work," said Republican Representative Steven LaTourette, author of the provisions.

He acknowledged to reporters that his amendment faced constitutional hurdles, but that his primary goal was to "put pressure on (automakers) to come to the table" to negotiate a settlement with the dealers affected by the bankruptcies.

Chrysler ended franchise agreements with almost 800 dealerships and GM is trying to winnow its dealerships to 3,600 by the end of 2010, from nearly 6,000 in May. Dealers have been particularly concerned about leftover inventories.

The White House has slammed the provisions, fearing that they could set a "dangerous precedent" and interfere with closed judicial proceedings. The Senate version of the bill does not include such language, making its future uncertain.

The Treasury Department ran a task force that helped ailing U.S. automakers restructure with federal aid as a backstop which LaTourette's amendment targets.

Congress is also keen to know if the Obama administration is going to extend into 2010 the Troubled Asset Relief Program which poured billions of dollars into banks to thaw frozen credit markets and into automakers facing slumping car sales.

"The bill requires the Treasury Department to provide reports so that we know how Treasury is addressing those parts of the financial crisis over which it has been given oversight responsibilities," said Democratic Representative Jose Serrano.

The TARP program has come under blistering criticism from Republicans and Democrats for falling short in helping individuals facing foreclosure on their homes and that the Treasury used some of it to help troubled automakers.

The Senate version of the legislation does not include such stringent reporting requirements; rather it just seeks more details about the use of TARP funds. So, differences between the two versions would have to be worked out before it could become law.

Also in the House bill is a boost in funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission to address criticism that the agency failed to detect financial fraud by Bernard Madoff and alleged against Texas billionaire Allen Stanford.

The agency would receive just over $1 billion for fiscal 2010, $76 million more than last year and $10 million more than requested by the Obama administration.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky)