George Runner

Infobox State Senator


name =George Runner
office =California State Senate
Republican Caucus Chair
term_start =December 17 2004
term_end =
predecessor =Chuck Poochigian
successor =
state_senate2 =California
district2 =17th
term_start2 =December 6 2004
term_end2 =
preceded2 =Pete Knight
succeeded2 =
state_assembly3 =California
district3 =36th
term_start3 =December 2 1996
term_end3 =November 30 2002
preceded3 =Pete Knight
succeeded3 =Sharon Runner
spouse =Sharon Runner
children =Micah, Rebekah
party =Republican
birth_date =Birth date and age|1952|3|25|mf=y
birth_place =Scotia, New York
religion =Christian
website =http://www.sen.ca.gov/runner

George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. He is the Republican Caucus Chair, making him the second-highest ranking Republican in the Senate.

Early life

Born in Scotia, New York, Runner moved with his family to Lancaster, California as a young child. After attending local public schools in Lancaster, Runner earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from the University of Redlands and a graduate certificate in Management from Azusa Pacific University.

With his wife Sharon, George Runner founded the Desert Christian Schools. According to the Desert Christian Schools website, [ [http://www.desertchristian.com/history.shtml History of Desert Christian Schools] ]

Local politics

In 1992, Runner was elected to the Lancaster City Council. He served as Lancaster's Vice Mayor from 1994–1995 and as Mayor of Lancaster from 1995–1996. During his mayoral term, the "California Business Journal" named Lancaster the number one mid-size city with which to do business. [ [http://www.network-democracy.org/camp/pa/ff/runner.shtml California Education Dialogue - Panelist George Runner] ]

State politics

In 1996, Runner was elected to represent the 36th Assembly District and served in the State Assembly for three terms, from 1996 to 2002. During this time of service, Runner served as Vice Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.

In 2004, he was elected to the Senate to represent the 17th Senate District.

Currently, Runner is the Chair of the Senate Republican Caucus. He is also the Vice Chair of the Senate Banking, Finance, and Insurance Committee, Vice Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, and is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, and the Senate Select Committee on Defense and Aerospace Industries.

During the 2005-06 legislative session, Runner was named Legislator of the Year by:
* The 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. [ [http://www.cssrc.us/web/17/biography.aspx Official biography] ]

Jessica's Law

In 2006, along with his wife, Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, George Runner authored Proposition 83, California's version of Jessica's Law. The measure passed with the support of 71% of California voters, and passed in 57 of California's 58 counties. [ [http://vote2006.sos.ca.gov/Returns/prop/mapR083.htm California Secretary of State - Election Results - Proposition 83] ]

Jessica's Law ensures that all sexual offenders who are convicted of activity with children under the age of 14 are put into a prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years or 25 years to life. It eliminates all "first-offense" sexual offense provisions from California law.

It also eliminates all "good-time" credits for sexual offenders serving prison terms; under the authored provisions they are required to serve their entire sentence and will not be released for good behavior. The law requires that sex offenders who are released from prison wear a GPS bracelet for life.

It also creates a 2,000-foot (615 meter) zone around schools and parks in which registered sex offenders are prohibited from residing.

Amber Alert

Runner is the author of California's Amber Alert system, [ [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_0401-0450/ab_415_bill_20020913_chaptered.pdf Assembly Bill 415, Runner. Chapter 517, Statutes of 2002.] ] which has successfully utilized the Emergency Alert System to involve the general public in the search for abducted children and has aided in numerous successful parent-child reunions. While originally designed and ostensibly implemented to combat kidnappings perpetrated by strangers, the majority of Amber Alerts have been issued regarding parental abductions.

Family

He married Sharon Oden in 1973. She succeeded him as the 36th Assembly District representative in 2002. Senator and Assemblywoman Runner are the first husband and wife to serve concurrently in the California State Legislature.

They have a son, Micah, daughter-in-law, Sandy, daughter Rebekah, and three grandchildren.

External links and references

* [http://www.sen.ca.gov/runner Official Senate web site]
* [http://www.safeneighborhoodsact.com Proposition 6 - Safe Neighborhoods Act]