LEVINE REPAYS DISPUTED CAMPAIGN FUNDS.Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer State 40th Assembly District candidate Lloyd Levine said Thursday that, to end controversy over possible illegality, he has returned an $88,000 loan from his parents that he funneled into his political campaign. Levine said his attorney, as well as a lawyer with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, made no formal finding that the loan was illegal, but concluded that it fell into a gray area of the law. The California Political Reform Act says all loans, except ``those received from a commercial lending institution Noun 1. lending institution - a financial institution that makes loans financial institution, financial organisation, financial organization - an institution (public or private) that collects funds (from the public or other institutions) and invests them in ,'' are to be considered contributions, subject to a maximum of $3,000 per individual. FPPC FPPC Fair Political Practices Commission (California) FPPC Fédération du Personnel Professionnel des Collèges FPPC Fieldpoint Petroleum Corporation (stock symbol) FPPC Farm Pilot Project Coordination, Inc. spokesman Roman Porter declined comment Thursday. Levine's Democratic opponent, Andrei Cherny Andrei Cherny is a former senior speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, and the founder and co-editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. He graduated with honors from Harvard College and received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law - who filed a formal complaint last month, charging the loan violated the act - challenged Levine's explanation. ``If this were a gray area, he would have kept the money,'' Cherny said. ``He tried to pull a fast one on the voters of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. .'' Levine said he wanted to put the controversy behind him to concentrate on the race to succeed Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg Robert Myles Hertzberg was born on November 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California, was an attorney and businessperson, and served in the California State Assembly from 1996-2002. in what's shaping up as the Valley's hottest local election contest. |
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