A Lawmaker’s Life

When state Sen. Alan Robbins resigned Tuesday after agreeing to plead guilty to criminal charges, he capped an 18-year career of highs and lows. A resume of his career:

1973: Robbins first elected to the Legislature as a virtual political novice who had grown up in the Valley and attended UCLA and UCLA Law School before becoming involved in numerous real estate deals. Robbins narrowly won an upset victory during a special Senate election in which he spent $338,000--at the time, the most anyone had ever spent getting elected to the Legislature.

1977: Lost a bitter contest for mayor of Los Angeles.

1979: Spearheaded the 1979 campaign for Proposition 1, which resulted in the end of mandatory school busing in Los Angeles.

1981: Was tried and acquitted of charges he had sex with two 16-year-old high school students he met in the Capitol in 1978 and 1979. He had been charged with four counts of unlawful intercourse and five counts of oral copulation. He blamed stories about him published in The Times for triggering the trial. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” he said after the verdict.

1982: Won reelection with 52% of the vote despite the highly publicized trial.

1982-85: Played key roles in bringing the Valley a state office building and a number of courthouses, and cementing his role as the linchpin of the 11-member Valley delegation. As chairman of the influential Senate Insurance, Claims and Corporations Committee, he emerged as one of the Senate’s more powerful members and top fund-raisers.

1985: Co-authored a law favored by insurance industry lobbyists requiring all motorists to carry proof of insurance.

1986: Was intentionally omitted from a Democratic Party mailer when he announced his support for a Republican congressional candidate.

1985-90: Targeted transit legislation as a way to enhance his image as an effective political deal-maker. In 1987, he unsuccessfully sought to abolish the RTD, but the following year secured a transit package benefiting the Valley.

1988: More than $1 million in loans made by Robbins’ campaign committees to business associates, staffers and community organizations were reviewed by the state attorney general’s office. Investigators determined the senator had not done anything illegal under the state’s guidelines on use of campaign funds.

1988: Los Angeles County district attorney’s office concluded that Robbins did not commit perjury when he listed his former father-in-law’s North Hollywood address as his domicile on a voter registration form, even though he also resided in an Encino house outside his legislative district. Robbins’ house was placed outside the district because of a clerical error during 1982 reapportionment.

1988: Became subject of a federal investigation into political corruption at the state Capitol. Federal investigators looked at a variety of his business dealings to determine whether he improperly used his office for personal gain.

1990: Campaign contributors were interviewed by IRS agents as part of the sweeping corruption investigation. Robbins said, “I have nothing to hide.”

1991: FBI agents searched a Beverly Hills auto rental agency that supplied cars to the lawmaker’s girlfriends.

1991: Real estate partnership led by Robbins to develop a massive commercial and residential project in Venice filed for bankruptcy, listing $7.6 million in debts to prominent Los Angeles developers, lawyers and banks.

1991: State attorney general’s investigation into whether Robbins illegally used campaign funds to finance a Ventura County real estate development concluded there was nothing to warrant the filing of charges.

1991: Robbins is named in federal corruption charges on Nov. 19, agrees to plead guilty and announces his resignation.