Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is adding her voice to a growing list of politicians admonishing private equity’s stewardship of debt-laden retailers, Bloomberg News reported. “There are definitely active discussions” toward legislation that would address the collapse of struggling companies tied to buyout firms, Baldwin said yesterday following the release of a letter chiding Sun Capital Partners Inc. for its management of bankrupt retailer Shopko Stores Inc. “Legislation will be designed so this doesn’t happen again.” Baldwin is the latest elected official to accuse private-equity firms of loading debt onto struggling retailers while reaping the benefits at workers’ expense. The issue burst into the public sphere last year when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) helped lobby for the creation of a hardship fund for workers after the collapse of Toys “R” Us Inc., and surfaced again after Sears Holdings Corp. filed for bankruptcy in October.
