Lloyd Levine has spent his life fighting to improve the quality of life for residents of the San Fernando Valley and California at large.

In 2002, he was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the over 400,000 residents of District 40. In Sacramento, he currently serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and is part of Speaker Fabian Nuñez’s leadership team. Besides chairing the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, Levine is a member of the Aging and Long-Term Care; Judiciary; Governmental Organization; and Elections and Redistricting Committees.

Shortly after graduation from college, Levine worked tirelessly on a ballot measure to increase community college funding. In the Assembly, Levine remains committed to improving education for all Californians. In his first term, he successfully carried legislation to secure $1 billion in funding for special education programs. Locally, with the Canoga Park community, Levine has been influential in honoring teachers through the implementation of the Walk of Hearts Foundation, which he hopes to help expand to be a statewide program.

Growing up in the Valley, Levine has dealt with the rampant transportation problems that plague Los Angeles his entire life. Recognizing the danger, economic depletion, and sheer frustration traffic in Los Angeles has caused, Levine used his influence to make improvements to the 405/101 interchange. In addition, Levine has been a champion for the Metro Orange Line that has linked the San Fernando Valley to the Metro mass transit system of Los Angeles.

While Levine is committed to tackling transportation, education and public safety policy, he has a deep passion for health and physical fitness. As a child, Levine suffered from severe asthma that symptoms were only managed through the help of an inhaler and distance running. He has participated in races as short as 1-mile to ultra marathon 50-mile races. Levine has turned his passion for health into a crusade to stop the obesity epidemic that is overcoming children and adults in California. He has carried legislation to help clinics treat obesity-related diabetes and asthma, and to help make sure student food is nutritious. He is also one of two Legislators on the California Taskforce for Youth and Workplace Wellness.

In 2004, Levine created the Assemblymember Lloyd Levine Fit & Fun Challenge in which schools compete to bring out the most students, families and teachers to walk, run, bike or skate a five kilometer course. While Levine knows that one day of exercise will not stop the epidemic, he believes that exposing students to “fun” exercise will help kids see that physical activity is not a chore.

This year, Assemblymember Levine is working on legislation to promote energy efficiency and reduce global warming, to make it mandatory to spay or neuter dogs and cats over the age of four months in California, to provide tax credits for fit businesses, to fight for better end-of-life choices for terminally-ill Californians, to ban the sale of general service incandescent light bulbs in California by 2012, to crack down on lost and stolen guns, and to protect our environment.

Assemblymember Levine, 38, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from the University of California, Riverside. In 2005 Levine was given the “Outstanding Alumnus Award” for UCR. He has also completed his course work toward a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy and Administration. He resides in the San Fernando Valley.