The City of Long Beach has just released an announcement stating that new legislation introduced by California Senator Dianne Feinstein would give federal bailouts to cities (such as Long Beach) that made investments in failed financial institutions. Long Beach invested $19.9 million in Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. shortly before the firm went bankrupt in September.
The bill is called the TARP Assistance For Local Governments Act of 2009 (S. 116), and would provide up to $10 billion for the Treasury Secretary to reimburse local governments from losses.
“The City has engaged highly regarded bankruptcy attorneys to help ensure the City recovers the taxpayers’ dollars, and has worked closely with Senator Feinstein and the entire California legislative delegation to pursue this legislation,” said Lori Ann Farrell, Director of Financial Management in the press release. “We sincerely thank the Senator for her leadership on this issue and are hopeful that Congress will act quickly to pass her bill into law.”
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor