The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

officer of the government of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to largely ministerial roles, serving as

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

in the absence of the

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

and as President of the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

, the lieutenant governor either sits on (or appoints representatives to) many of California's regulatory commissions and executive agencies. California is one of eighteen states where the governor and lieutenant governor do not run as

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

s on the same

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

: in California the governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately, although both are up for election in the same year every four years. As a result, California has frequently had a governor and a lieutenant governor of different parties. California has had 41 lieutenant governors and five acting lieutenant governors since achieving statehood in 1850. The current lieutenant governor is

Eleni Kounalakis Eleni Kounalakis (née Tsakopoulos; born March 3, 1966) is an American politician, businesswoman, and former diplomat serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman elect ...

, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

who was sworn into office on January 7, 2019. She is the first woman elected to the office in California history.

Responsibilities

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, higher education, natural resources, economic development. In addition, the lieutenant governor carries out some miscellaneous functions.

Core constitutional duties

The

California Constitution The Constitution of California ( es, Constitución de California) is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's original co ...

designates the lieutenant governor as president of the

and provides that all the powers of the governor fall to the lieutenant governor whenever the governor is not in the State of California, with the lieutenant governor often signing or vetoing legislation, or making political appointments, whenever the governor leaves the state. In practice, the lieutenant governor only presides over the Senate when requested by the

president pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

or in order to cast a tie-breaking vote. Moreover, there is a

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...

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 Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

was in office, as he signed several executive orders at odds with the administration of

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

and appointed

Armand Arabian Armand M. Arabian (December 12, 1934 – March 28, 2018) was an American lawyer who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from February 3, 1990, to February 28, 1996. Early life and education Armand was born in New York ...

as presiding justice on the

California Courts of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

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 The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

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 his or her 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.

Natural resources

Together with the

state controller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

and director of finance, the lieutenant governor is a member of the

California State Lands Commission The California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands. The members of ...

. 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 The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is a state agency within the California Natural Resources Agency with quasi-judicial control of land and public access along the state's coastline. Its mission as defined in the California Coastal Act is " ...

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 Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

), and five of the twenty-nine members of the oversight committee of the

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created in 2004 after 59% of California voters approved California Proposition 71: the Research and Cures Initiative, which allocated $3 billion to fund stem cell research in California ...

are appointed by the lieutenant governor.

Criticism of the office

Some academics and scholars such as Roger E. Noll and

Bruce Cain Bruce E. Cain (born November 28, 1948) is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. Professor Cain's fields of interest include American politics, political regulation, dem ...

in ''Constitutional Reform in California'' have criticized constitutional offices like the lieutenant governor because of their low visibility among the electorate that can make it difficult for the electorate to hold constitutional officers like the lieutenant governor responsible for their actions. Although the lieutenant governor of California's powers and responsibilities are clearly lesser than those of the governor, the ability to make appointments to, and decisions on, the boards of executive agencies does allow the lieutenant governor to make policy decisions that, due to their separate election, might well conflict with the agenda of the governor. Thus, it is argued, California might benefit if the governor and the lieutenant governor ran on the same ticket. The lieutenant governor would then be more likely to help the governor – who is subject to a greater degree of voter scrutiny – to implement his or her policies, but that is unlikely. In 2003, although Lt. Governor

Cruz Bustamante Cruz Miguel Bustamante (born January 4, 1953) is an American politician. He previously served as the 45th lieutenant governor of California from 1999 to 2007, serving under governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A member of the Democrat ...

and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

were both Democrats, they reportedly had an icy relationship and had not spoken in months before the

2003 California recall The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort span ...

election approached. Bustamante's decision to run in the recall election was controversial, as many supporters of Governor Davis had urged prominent Democrats not to run, in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the event. Despite being the second highest-ranking office in California, the lieutenant governor has no real responsibility or power to represent the governor on issues such as trade negotiations or a legislative agenda (i.e. in contrast to its powerful counterpart in Texas), so the job has been jokingly defined by political insiders as "get up, read the paper, see if the governor is dead, if not, go back to sleep." Despite its prestige, it has not historically been a strong springboard to higher political office;

and current Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

are the only Democrats in state history and the only state politicians in the last eight decades to be elected governor after holding the post. Furthermore, the lieutenant governor's office budget has suffered considerable cutbacks in recent times; the proposed annual budget for July 2011 will be slightly over $1 million and include three staffers, while from 1995 to 1999 the office had an $1.3 million annual budget with a staff of 17. By contrast the

attorney general of California The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...

oversees 5,300 employees, including 1,110 state attorneys, and its 2010 budget was over $700 million.

References

External links

* {{California statewide elected officials