The lieutenant governor is, after the governor, the highest-ranking executive officer of the state of California. The responsibilities of this independently elected office are largely concerned with core constitutional duties, matters of higher education, natural resources management, and economic development. In addition, the lieutenant governor carries out certain miscellaneous functions.
Core constitutional duties Article V, Sections 9 of the
California Constitution designates the lieutenant governor as president of the
California State Senate. Likewise, Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution provides that the lieutenant governor becomes governor whenever a vacancy befalls the governor's office and otherwise exercises all the powers belonging to the governor in an
acting capacity whenever the governor is absent from the state of California, with the lieutenant governor often signing or vetoing legislation, or making political appointments in lieu of the chief executive. In practice, the lieutenant governor only presides over the Senate when requested by the
president pro tempore or in order to cast a tie-breaking vote. Moreover, there is a
gentlemen's agreement for the lieutenant governor not to perform more than perfunctory duties while the governor is away from the state. This agreement was violated when
Mike Curb was in office, as he signed several executive orders at odds with the administration of
Jerry Brown and appointed
Armand Arabian as presiding justice on the
California Courts of Appeal when Brown was out of the state. Brown withdrew Arabian's appointment upon his return, appointing
Bernard S. Jefferson in his place. In the 1979 case
In re Governorship, the
California Supreme Court upheld the lieutenant governor's right to perform the duties and assume all of the prerogatives of governor while the governor is out of the state, but that the governor generally has the right to rescind those actions upon their return.
Higher education The lieutenant governor is the only elected official in California to have a comprehensive policymaking role over the entire higher education system. By virtue of office, he or she is a full voting member of the
Board of Regents of the University of California, the
Board of Trustees of California State University, the
Board of Governors of the California Community College System, and the
Calbright College Board of Trustees. Indeed, the lieutenant governor's membership on the University of California Board of Regents is mandated by Article IX, Section 9 of the California Constitution.
Natural resources Together with the
state controller and
director of finance, the lieutenant governor is a member of the
California State Lands Commission. The State Lands Commission is an independent state agency which manages 450,000 acres of
school trust lands and an additional 4,000,000 acres of
public trust lands consisting of California's foreshore, nearshore, and the beds of natural navigable rivers, streams, lakes, bays, estuaries, inlets, and straits. The position of commission chair alternates annually between the lieutenant governor and the state controller; in those years when the lieutenant governor is commission chair, the lieutenant governor is also a voting member of the Ocean Protection Council and a non-voting member of the
California Coastal Commission.
Economic development The lieutenant governor chairs the Commission for Economic Development, which is responsible for fostering economic growth in California by developing and implementing strategies for attracting new business to the state, increasing state exports, creating new jobs, and stimulating industries statewide. The commission is composed of appointees from the legislature and the governor and currently does not have a quorum needed to meet.
Miscellaneous functions Many California projects created through gubernatorial executive orders, or through the initiative process, include a role for the lieutenant governor. For example, the lieutenant governor serves on the Agriculture-Water Transition Task Force (created by Governor
Gray Davis), and five of the twenty-nine members of the
oversight committee of the
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine are appointed by the lieutenant governor. ==Criticism of the office==