NOVATO, Calif. -- State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has delayed plans for issuing bonds to pay for the expansion of death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Lockyer says he was responding to a last-minute objection from Assemblyman Jared Huffman and Sen. Mark Leno.

The pair of Bay Area lawmakers argue the bond sale would be illegal until the courts decide whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had the authority to veto certain conditions for financing the expansion.

Lockyer's spokesman, Tom Dresslar, says the state bond sale, which began Wednesday, was reduced from $1.34 billion down to $750 million.

The governor's finance spokesman, H.D. Palmer, says the bond sale for a prison expansion will move forward once that legal issue has been resolved.