Gov. Code, § 7.9

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may designate any deputy of his or her office to act in his or her place and stead on any state board, commission, committee, or governing board of a state agency with respect to the exercise of statutory powers and duties of any of those bodies. The deputy, while sitting on a board, commission, committee, or governing board of a state agency may exercise the same powers that the Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may exercise as if he or she were personally present. The Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction so designating a deputy shall be responsible for the acts of the deputy acting under the designation in the same manner and to the same extent that the Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction is responsible for the acts of the deputy performing his or her official duties as deputy to the Controller, the Treasurer, the Director of Finance, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

(b) At the request of the Controller or the Treasurer, two employees of each officer, who hold permanent civil service status and have been designated deputies under this section, shall be classified and compensated as career executives at category level IV or category level V.

(c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction may not appoint a person pursuant to subdivision (a) to act as a deputy for him or her at meetings of the State Board of Education, the Regents of the University of California, or the Trustees of the California State University.