Bill Lockyer

The company that built the first mass-produced, all-electric car will keep its manufacturing plant in California, thanks to a new tax break. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer worked out the deal for Tesla Motors Inc. after learning that the Silicon Valley company intended to build its second-generation vehicle in New Mexico. The financial break, announced Monday, allows Tesla to avoid paying state sales tax on equipment it buys to build its Model S.

After a bill has been sent to the governor, he has 30 days to sign or veto it, or it automatically becomes law. On most bills, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position. EDUCATION School Spending AB 825 by Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh (D-Los Angeles) would give school districts more flexibility in how they spend money. It would consolidate 22 programs into six large block grants.

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer sued nine snack- and fast-food giants Friday, saying the law requires them to tell the public that their potato chips and French fries contain a toxic chemical. In a suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Lockyer sought a court order compelling the companies to place warnings on their cooked potato products because they contain higher levels of a suspected carcinogen, acrylamide, than other foods. The defendants include Frito-Lay Inc., KFC Corp.

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer sued H&R Block Inc. on Wednesday, seeking to stop a widely used loan program that entitles the nation's largest tax preparer to a chunk of its customers' tax refunds. The San Francisco Superior Court complaint joins a long list of lawsuits that have targeted H&R Block's refund anticipation loans -- cash advances the company arranges for customers so they won't have to wait for a check from the government.

California lawmakers Thursday voted to require weapons manufacturers to ensure that all bullets and cartridges are branded with distinctive serial numbers. Contained in two measures that are intended to help law enforcement solve cases, the proposal would be unique among states if approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer on Thursday sued the Los Angeles-based mutual fund company that has been the nation's most popular for the last three years, alleging that giant American Funds failed to properly tell its 20 million shareholders how it paid brokerages to pitch its products.

Controversial legislation to permit the news media to televise executions carried out in San Quentin's gas chamber has been sent to the Assembly floor for a vote. The Assembly Way and Means Committee approved the legislation (AB 2246) by Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco) with little debate. The committee vote was 13 to 8. Some supporters of the death penalty argue that televised executions would increase the value of capital punishment as a deterrent to potential killers.

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s settlement of a lawsuit stemming from the spying scandal that rocked the Silicon Valley icon could set new standards for corporate behavior and strengthen enforcement of privacy laws, legal experts said Thursday. HP agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle the case brought by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer accusing the computer maker of unfair business practices in its efforts to root out the source of boardroom leaks to the media.

A SWAT team officer who shot an 11-year-old boy in the back during a methamphetamine raid was cleared of criminal charges Thursday by the state attorney general. The killing of Alberto Sepulveda was an accident, and there was no that evidence Modesto Officer David Hawn intended to kill the boy, said Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. The boy was lying face down on his bedroom floor when Hawn's shotgun fired. The Sept. 13 raid was part of a countywide effort to crack down on a methamphetamine drug ring.

An online entrepreneur who out-hustled the state of California by creating a "do not call" system to repel unsolicited telemarketer pitches said Monday that he is redesigning his Web site because of concerns that it too closely resembled an official state site. Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer had questioned the appearance of the private site.

Bill Lockyer has some simple, blunt advice for Democratic legislators struggling to make painful budget cuts: Just assume you're not going to get reelected. Then dig in and slash. Democrat Lockyer -- the state treasurer, former attorney general and longtime legislator who was Senate leader -- has experienced many budget brawls, but never a deficit hole as seemingly bottomless as this. Never before has the state staggered so desperately from crisis to crisis.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Wednesday formally requested federal help to backstop a wave of short-term borrowing the cash-strapped state will need to undertake this summer. In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Lockyer asked the government to in effect guarantee the state's debt against default, so that investors would be willing to provide the financing at reasonable interest rates.

A new federal program designed to ease credit by purchasing short-term business debt probably won't be available to California and other beleaguered state and local governments, Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Wednesday.

The company that built the first mass-produced, all-electric car will keep its manufacturing plant in California, thanks to a new tax break. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer worked out the deal for Tesla Motors Inc. after learning that the Silicon Valley company intended to build its second-generation vehicle in New Mexico. The financial break, announced Monday, allows Tesla to avoid paying state sales tax on equipment it buys to build its Model S.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer is embarked on a little-noticed, nerdy but noble crusade. He's trying to stop Wall Streeters from gouging state and local governments. That means state and local taxpayers. They're the ones getting fleeced when their governments issue bonds -- borrow -- to build roads, schools, water facilities and other public works.

Sacramento Whether or not state Treasurer Bill Lockyer runs for governor, he doesn't intend to make the same fatal political mistake that his predecessor did: become the Democrats' loudest advocate for a tax increase. A state treasurer doesn't have an ounce of power to raise taxes, Lockyer notes. That's a function of the dysfunctional Legislature and governor. So why should a treasurer try to lead a crusade for higher taxes?

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer is about to launch the first campaign urging people to Buy California. No, the state's top money man isn't referring to locally grown corn or nectarines at state-sponsored farmers markets but to $5,000 lots of tax-free California municipal bonds that will finance the construction of highways, bridges, schools and other public works for decades to come.

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s settlement of a lawsuit stemming from the spying scandal that rocked the Silicon Valley icon could set new standards for corporate behavior and strengthen enforcement of privacy laws, legal experts said Thursday. HP agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle the case brought by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer accusing the computer maker of unfair business practices in its efforts to root out the source of boardroom leaks to the media.

HE HAD US, then he lost us. Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer had a sensible response to a lawsuit challenging Proposition 83, which bans sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. Lockyer ruled that the residence restriction in the initiative known as Jessica's Law wouldn't apply to offenders who already had completed their sentences before Nov. 7, when voters overwhelmingly adopted the new law. That's smart.

Energy companies, loggers and automakers have felt the wrath of California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. So have sexual predators and civil rights violators. But fellow politicians suspected of corruption? Not so much. During his nearly eight years as the state's top law enforcement authority, Lockyer has prosecuted just a handful of elected officials on corruption charges, the most prominent being a San Bernardino County supervisor.