Bill Lockyer

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Bill Lockyer bigraphy, stories - American politician

Bill Lockyer : biography

May 8, 1941 –

William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is a veteran California politician, who has held elective office since 1973. He is currently the 32nd State Treasurer of California, elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He has also served as California Attorney General and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate. Described by journalistic observers as one of the state’s most "colorful" and "shrewdest" public officials, he has long been known to speak his mind with an uncommon frankness, as well as what one critic called a "highfalutin, professorial air",Steven Tavares, eastbaycitizen, July 2, 2012 that has occasionally caused him political embarrassment.Peter Schrag, "Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future" (1998), Page 52, Los Angeles Times; Dan Morain, Sacramento Bee, Aug 1, 2012, http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/01/v-print/4679651/lockyer-has-a-problem-in-bid-to.html

Personal life

Lockyer, who lives in Hayward, California, was married in April 2003 to attorney Nadia Lockyer, a former Alameda County Supervisor, with whom he has a nine year-old son. By an earlier marriage, he also has an adult daughter who is an attorney for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

2008–2009 California budget crisis

In the fall of 2008, with the economy faltering, the Legislature very belatedly passed what Los Angeles Times political columnist George Skelton called "another atrocious, short-sighted, gimmicky budget that set a record for procrastination" and "wreaked havoc all across California among small business vendors, healthcare centers and nursing homes that couldn’t be paid by the state until a budget was enacted."

Lockyer was also critical of the budget, describing its budgetary provisions to Skelton as "banana republic financing", based on accounting gimmicks (that "give gimmicks a bad name"), "phony inflated estimates of revenue" and a "boondoggle" of "massive" corporate tax breaks at a time of mounting State deficit.George Skelton, "Blame all the players for the gimmickry budget", Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2008

In 2009, it was discovered that the state faced a $25 billion deficit, following a sharp drop in tax revenues.

As negotiations began to revise the state budget, Lockyer tried to convince U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to provide a guarantee for state bond payments. "A fiscal meltdown by California … would surely destabilize the U.S., if not worldwide financial markets," Lockyer wrote to Geithner on May 13.Kevin O’Leary, "Can the U.S. Afford to Let California Fail? Time, June 19, 2009 The Obama Administration declined the request.

Earlier, Lockyer warned the legislative conference committee that private lenders would be leery of any more "smoke-and-mirrors accounting tricks" and that lawmakers would have to rely heavily on spending cuts to balance the budget: "It seems to me that the kind of budget we will require before the end of June is almost entirely cuts…My suggestion to you is don’t delay the pain. It’s going to be awful, but just get it done. It’s going to be worse if it doesn’t get done." Steve Wiegand, "Lockyer urges spending cuts to balance state budget", Sacramento Bee, May 22, 2009

Lockyer was also quoted as telling Democratic legislators that, "fair or not", angry voters blamed them for "12 years of flowing red ink". "Why don’t you start with the realization that probably none of you are going to be back here next year?", after the 2010 elections. "You’re not going to get reelected. Just put the politics out of your brain…That’s a very liberating thought, and with it you can get a lot done." George Skelton, "Note to budget doctors: Don’t spare the knife", Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2009

When the Legislature failed to pass a balanced budget before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2009, State Controller John Chiang began issuing IOUs to some state creditors. Lockyer suggested having a respected intermediary mediate between the Republican Governor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature."Lockyer suggests mediator break state budget impasse", Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2009 Republican State Senator Bob Huff scoffed at the idea, saying, "No caucus is going to go with that… I’m not going to vote for new taxes just because some mediator told me to." , San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 3, 2009