Murray, Torres to Pay for Unreported Gifts

Two Los Angeles County legislators have agreed to pay sizable fines to the Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to disclose campaign contributions, according to documents released Wednesday by the commission.

Assemblyman Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount) agreed to pay a fine of $12,500 for not revealing $75,000 in campaign contributions he received in 1986 during his first, unsuccessful race for the seat he now holds. The unreported money came in the final two weeks before a hotly contested Democratic primary.

Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) agreed to pay a fine of $4,000 for failing to identify 62 contributors who gave his campaign a total of $37,950 in 1985. A commission report faults the Torres campaign committee for “inadequate accounting practices,” but concludes that “there was no indication of any intent to conceal” contributors’ names.

The settlements, worked out by lawyers for the legislators and lawyers for the commission, still must be approved by commission members, who will meet later this month. The fines can be paid from campaign funds.