Senator George Runner (R-Antelope Valley)

George Runner is a California state senator, representing the 17th Senate District and a taxpayer advocate for Americans For Prosperity.

Runner and his wife, former Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, are the authors of California's Jessica's Law, which California voters passed by 70 percent in November 2006. It created some of the toughest and most comprehensive sex offender laws in the nation. He authored California's Amber Alert System, which has resulted in close to 200 successful reunions of parents with their kids.

He was elected to the State Senate in 2004 after serving six years in the Assembly. As an advocate for California taxpayers, Runner has consistently earned top marks from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association - the pre-eminent taxpayer rights organization in California.

He is currently authoring "Blue Alert" legislation, which would use the existing statewide Amber Alert notification system when a peace officer has been killed, seriously wounded, or assaulted with a firearm and the suspect has fled the scene. Additionally, he is authoring Ronald Reagan Day, which would annually proclaim Feb. 6 as Ronald Reagan Day in California.

He serves as the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. He also serves on the following Senate Committees: Banking, Finance and Insurance; and Human Services.

Recently, Runner was named Legislator of the Year by the following groups:

• California State Sheriffs' Association
• Crime Victims United
• California Sexual Assault Investigators Association
• Coalition of Chief Probations Officers
• California Coalition of Directors of Environmental Health
• California Community College Trustees
• California Building Industry Association

He also received the Pursuit of Justice Award from the Association of Deputy District Attorneys - Los Angeles County. Runner has consistently been named one of Sacramento's most Conservative legislators by the Capitol Weekly Newspaper and received a perfect legislative score from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association in 2009.

Other Runner legislative measures include:

• Joint Strike Fighter tax credit, which was designed to make California competitive with other states by allowing $250 million in tax credits for wages and equipment used in the production of the Joint Strike Fighter;

• Proposition 11 in 1998, to allow flexibility for local governments to enter into sales tax revenue sharing agreements;

• Military Families' law that provides a permanent exemption from non-resident tuition at all California public universities for active military personnel and their families;

• Landmark food safety legislation that improves and updates California's food safety code and is based on the best available food safety science. This law was created to ensure that consumers are protected when they eat at retail food facilities;

• The High Occupancy Vehicle Lane law that allows commuter lanes on State Route 14 available to single-occupancy drivers during non-commuter hours.

George and Sharon are the first husband and wife in California history to serve concurrently in the Legislature. They are the proud parents of son Micah, daughter-in-law Sandy, and daughter Rebekah, who is currently serving in the United States Coast Guard. They have three grandchildren.