SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), chair of the California Assembly Banking and Finance Committee, and Assemblymember Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland), chair of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, today issued the following statement after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support of financial literacy and counseling to help alleviate the subprime mortgage crisis:

“We are pleased Governor Schwarzenegger is finding additional help for homeowners and now realizes the importance of financial literacy/counseling. For two years the Governor has vetoed bills that would have increased financial literacy in California. Now he apparently supports financial literacy/counseling and we hope he will support the Assembly Democrats' proposals that we will put on his desk, again, regarding financial literacy.

“This foundation is a step in the right direction, but it will not solve the problem, even locally in Oakland, by itself. The size and scope of this crisis continues to grow by the day, and nonprofit funds cannot stand in the place of aggressive legislative action. That is why we and our colleagues in the Assembly Democratic Caucus are going to continue with our package of legislative reforms. We again call on the Governor to join us.

“We join the Governor's call for more private sector money to help distressed homeowners. We note, however, that the best way for banks to help is for them to restructure and refinance loans, especially for the 61% of subprime borrowers who had actually qualified for traditional fixed-rate, prime loans.”