It is no accident that with a pool of literally millions of Californians from which to choose, the composition of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board is made up  entirely of former, termed-out legislators.  The current members of the CUIAB include former GOP Assembly Leader George Plescia, former GOP Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, former Democrat Senator Liz Figueroa, and former Democrat Assemblywoman Cindy Montañez.  Until yesterday, the Board’s fifth member was former Republican Assemblywoman Sharon Runner.  She resigned and has announced a run for the State Senate seat just vacated by her husband, George, who will be sworn in as a new member of the State Board of Equalization in early January.  Runner’s term on the CUIAB was set to expire at year’s end.

The appointments, three made by the Governor, and one each by the Senate President and Assembly Speaker, do NOT require confirmation and are for four year terms.  Those appointed "plum" jobs pay a cool $129,000 and come with Cadillac benefits. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger will be able to fill the seat that was occupied by Runner before he leaves office — likely his last big "political gift" to someone to whom he wants to reward for being part of Team Schwarzenegger.

But who will it be? 

Many assume that retired ex-Senator Roy Ashburn, who was one of handful of Republican legislators who broke his "no new taxes" pledge to voters, and cast a decisive vote for the largest tax increase in California history.  But then, there are others in this group of "GOP Black Sheep" that, well, are out of work — including retiring Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado who was ousted by California voters.  Schwarzenegger recently gave compensated appointments to Ex-Assemblymen Mike Villines and Anthony Adams.

Of course there are other termed-out legislators out there that worked closely with the Governor — one that comes specifically to mind is former Senate GOP Leader Dennis Hollingsworth.

Then again, it could be that the Governor awards this plum to his Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy, or perhaps another loyal long-time staff member?.

We’ll know the answer to this riddle soon enough.  Wouldn’t it be novel if someone was appointed who was not part of the political ruling class?  Naaaah, what is the fun in that?

As a footnote, the California Performance Review commissioned by the Governor early on in his administration recommended putting the CUIAB in the trash heap, abolishing it all together.  Needless to say, this never happened.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.