Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging him to speed up to five business days the reimbursement wait-time for car dealers who have given millions of dollars in rebates to consumers as part of the administration’s “Cash for Clunkers’ program.
Dealers have been complaining that the government has yet to make good on its promise to repay the $4,500-per-clunker voucher that dealers have given away for the past few weeks and some are refusing to participate in the program because they have no more money to hand out.
LaHood has assured dealers that they will eventually get their money and President Barack Obama has indicated the he is going to wind down the popular program.
In the meantime, the government has been overwhelmed with reimbursement requests and has fallen far behind in repaying dealers. Reid is urging LaHood to add staff in order to get the money to dealers in under a week.
“By adopting such a guideline, dealers will be more willing to place their capital at risk to carry the cost of CARS vouchers until reimbursement, and more dealers will continue participating in the program, thereby maximizing the program’s objectives,” Reid said.
