Ex-lawmaker lands $128,109 state job

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It has long been one of the biggest patronage posts in California: a coveted spot on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

It’s a job that pays $128,109 per year.

All five current members are former lawmakers –- Bonnie Garcia, George Plescia, Liz Figueroa, Cindy Montanez and Sharon Runner –- appointed by the governor and the legislative leadership. There are two vacancies.

On Monday -– within hours of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest declaration of a fiscal emergency for the state of California -– the state Senate, through its Rules Committee, made its latest appointment to the board: recently termed-out Sen. Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego).

Ducheny was the Legislature’s top budget expert and had served as chair of the Senate Budget Committee until term limits forced her from office this year.

Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), said Ducheny was appointed to a four-year term that will begin Jan. 2. She will replace Figueroa, a former Democratic state senator.

More appointments are likely to come soon. Two other current board members’ terms expire in January, with the speaker of the state Assembly and Schwarzenegger each able to pick their replacements.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento