Former Tarzana Assemblyman Appointed

SACRAMENTO —  Assembly Speaker Willie Brown on Thursday appointed former Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Tarzana) to a $92,500-a-year seat on the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, one of the highest paid jobs in state government.

Bane, 79, who retired last year after 24 years in the Assembly, was chairman of the powerful Rules Committee. With his wife, Marlene, he was a key fund-raiser for Brown (D-San Francisco), particularly in the San Fernando Valley.

Bane succeeds former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, also a Brown appointee, who has resigned. Agnos said he expects to be appointed soon as a western regional administrator in the Clinton Administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The state board consists of seven members and serves as a referee in deciding disputed unemployment insurance issues between workers and employers. Now, five members are Republicans appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson while the two Democrats are appointees of Brown and the Senate Rules Committee.