California: Carole Migden

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed yet another termed-out lawmaker to a six-figure post in state government, his sixth such appointment in recent months.

The latest appointee, former GOP Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, will earn $128,109 as a member of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which meets once a month.

The Schwarzenegger appointments -- whose cumulative salaries total more than three-quarters of a million dollars annually -- have come as the state is battling record-setting deficits.

Last week, the Legislature adopted a Schwarzenegger-backed budget plan that contained a wide array of tax hikes and spending cuts in education, health and many other state services.

The Schwarzenegger administration defends the ex-lawmaker appointees as all qualified for the job.

SAN FRANCISCO - From many perspectives, Mark Leno has been breaking barriers through much of his political life.

Leno, 57, started out in politics as a gay rights and community activist. He has served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and just completed three successful terms in the California Assembly, representing AD-13.

In the spring of this year Leno took the unusual step of taking on and beating incumbent state Senator Carole Migden and former state legislator Joe Nation for control of Migden's SD-03 seat, representing the heart of San Francisco.

Termed-out Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) has been appointed to the state Integrated Waste Management Board by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).

Laird's appointment to the board, which oversees waste reduction and clean-up activities in the state, is one made at the discretion of the Assembly leadership.

The California Senate on Thursday approved a joint resolution calling on the federal government to halt crackdowns on licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.

The resolution, SJR 20, was approved 24 to 15 and was authored by outgoing state Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco.)

Migden, who was defeated in her primary re-election bid last month by termed out fellow Democrat Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), said she believes the federal government's Drug Enforcement Agency has better ways of spending its time.