Lieutenant Governor of California

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The office of the Lieutenant Governor of California, like the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, is unusually powerful for a "vice-executive" position. In addition to (basically cermonial) roles serving as Acting Governor (in the absence of the Governor) and as President of the State Senate, the California Lieutenant Governor either sits on, or appoints representatives to, many of California's regulatory commissions and executive agencies. The Lt. Governor:[1]

is involved in decisions about economic development and negotiation of deals between California and the nations that use its ports.
has considerable influence over environmental, agricultural, and land use regulations and their enforcement.
serves as a Regent of the University of California and California State University system, the largest public higher education system in the United States.

Many California projects created through gubernatorial executive orders, or through the initiative process, include a role for the Lt. Governor. For example, the Lt. Governor serves on the Agriculture-Water Transition Task Force (created by Governor Gray Davis), and five of the twenty-nine members of the oversight committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine are appointed by the Lt. Governor.