Mark Taylor: Biography

A Georgia native, Mark Taylor is Georgia's 10th Lt. Governor. During his 18 years of public service, he has demonstrated a consistent commitment to kitchen-table issues, including improving education and healthcare, making communities safer and strengthening Georgia's economy.

Prior to becoming Lt. Governor in 1998, he represented Albany and Southwest Georgia in the State Senate, and he served as then-Governor Zell Miller's Floor Leader. In 1991, he led the effort to create the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs which revolutionized education throughout the state. Recently, he has further focused on education by supporting increases in teachers' salaries and fighting for smaller class sizes in grades K-3.

Taylor also led the effort to bring Peachcare to Georgia so that children from working families could have affordable access to healthcare. Over the years, he has also worked to make sure that women's health insurance coverage is equitable and he is currently working on Georgia RX -- a program that costs taxpayers nothing while providing affordable access to prescription drugs for the elderly (over 55) and uninsured Georgians. He has also been working with state EMS officials and hospitals to implement a statewide trauma network.

Keeping families safe has consistently been one of Lt. Governor Taylor's top priorities. In the early 1990s, he worked to pass tough laws against domestic violence and he also pushed through the Nation's toughest violent crime law -- Two Strikes -- that has punished violent criminals who are repeat offenders. He is also responsible for the State's first DNA database that, today, has solved over 300 previously unsolved rapes and murders. He built on this success by establishing post-conviction relief to make sure the right person is in jail.

In 2002, he helped remove the statute of limitations for prosecution in violent crimes, such as rape and aggravated child molestation. Two years later, he pushed through the State's first child endangerment law that is deterring abuse and neglect of children. Also, in 2004, he made sure Georgia has the harshest punishments for those who dare to commit a crime against a child by enabling judges to add an electronic monitoring device (GPS Tracker) to their sentences.

Throughout his career, Taylor has fought for economic development by advocating lower taxes and job creation. He serves as vice chair of the OneGeorgia Authority, which has created over 17,000 jobs in economically - deprived counties. Because he feels that education is linked directly to economic development, Taylor has been a staunch supporter of the technical college system.

Taylor has recently been praised for his work on the HEROES Act, a package of legislation, designed to provide economic relief to the soldiers of the National Guard and their families. This package of bills includes economic relief, a tax credit for life insurance for soldiers on active duty, and educational scholarships to soldiers in the National Guard.

As a result of his work, Georgia's tax forms will now include a convenient, voluntary check-off for any Georgian who wants to make a contribution to a 501(c)3 relief fund from which Guard families can seek help during times of economic distress. Additionally, soldiers will now receive a tax credit for the mandatory life insurance they must pay for upon deployment, and returning soldiers will have access to educational scholarships to ease re-entry into the workforce.

In addition to serving as Georgia's Lt. Governor, Mark Taylor is an executive in a family-owned truck leasing company. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Emory University and he earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia. He is a member of the Porterfield United Methodist Church of Albany, Ga., and he is married to the former Sacha Wilbanks originally of Lavonia, Georgia. He has one son, Fletcher.

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