The Baltimore Sun reported that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has asked GE chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt to reconsider GE Capital’s decision to freeze some of R.G. Steel’s funds, saying the move has contributed to the firm’s decision to lay off workers at its Sparrows Point mill.

The article said that in a letter dated December 28, 2011, O’Malley asked Immelt for help in “stabilizing the financial arrangements that helped build R.G. Steel, America’s fourth largest steel company.”

GE Capital led ten other institutions in financing the stock purchase sale that created the steel company, the article said, citing O’Malley’s letter. The arrangement included giving R.G. Steel a revolving line of credit, for which the steel company put up collateral. According to O’Malley’s letter, GE Capital and other lenders have shifted funds needed to support business operations to “reserves” to further secure the loan, the article stated.

To read the full Baltimore Sun article, click here.