Gail Buckner has served in every position of the Parents and Teachers Association. As President of the Babb Junior High School PTA, the group was named Georgia’s Outstanding PTA. Under Buckner’s leadership as President of the Council of PTAs, the National Congress of PTA awarded their highest honor to the Council for three consecutive years. Efforts to combat teen pregnancy, drug abuse and juvenile delinquency were the basis for these awards.

She has been awarded several Honorary Lifetime Memberships to the Georgia Congress of PTA. Gail is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and also the National Foundation for Women Legislators’ Leadership College that included the Gallop Institute.

Gail attended Georgia State University majoring in Communications, served as President of the Student Public Relations Society and worked an internship at Egleston Hospital. She was an Education major at Clayton College and State University and received the University’s first Outstanding Alumni Award in 2002.

She was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1990. Her State service includes serving on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Children and Youth, Game, Fish and Parks, Higher Education, Industry- now named Economic Development and Tourism, Journals and Retirement.

Gail chaired the House Appropriations Human Service Committee that sets the budget for the Departments of Labor, Veteran Affairs, Family and Children Services, Public Heath and Juvenile Justice. She also served on the Economic Development Budget Committee that cleared the budget for the Departments of Transportation, Community Affairs, Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Gail chaired the first Administrative Services Committee created in 2003 and severed on the House Capital Outlay Oversight Committee. She chaired the House Appropriations Oversight Committee for both the State Archives in Morrow and the restoration of the Old Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville.

Georgians are safer today because of bills Buckner authored and passed, including several on safe schools, consumer protection and health care. She had the courage to author and pass legislation in areas where others feared to tread, including a constitutional amendment that Georgians overwhelmingly passed to allow local government greater authority to pass ordinances based on the regulation of alcohol and nude dance clubs. This helped local governments to retain local control over what could and could not happen in the community while providing them protection from possible lawsuits.

Gail created the offense of Child Endangerment by DUI.

Today breast cancer patients and their doctors can now make the decision about hospital release because of legislation that Buckner authored and passed preventing drive-by mastectomies. And, Georgia has a voluntary check-off on the state income tax form that allows citizens to donate to the research, prevention and treatment of breast, prostate and ovarian cancer due to Buckner authoring and pressing for this legislation. Over $1 million has been donated.

RECOGNITIONS- the only member of the Legislature to twice be named Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition, Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Public Health Officials.

The Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics awarded Buckner the Friend of Children Award, one of their two awards presented to a non-physician; named Clayton County Citizen of the Year in 2002. She has been elected to Sigma Beta Delta.

NAACP Community Service Award; Legislator of the Year Award from the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Science; Friend of 4-H Award.

CIVIC- currently Chairing the Clayton County Boys and Girls Foundation and working to bring Boys and Girls Clubs to the area; co-founder of Rainbow House, an emergency shelter for children; co-founder Prevention PLUS, a non-profit that reaches at-risk youth. Partner-In-Education with 14 schools; board member of the National Museum of Commercial Aviation; board member Youth Leadership.

Gail and Charles Buckner were married 39 years ago. They have three grown children and four grandchildren. A 15-year-old guardian child has lived with them for the last eight years.

As a member of the First Baptist Church and a former Awana Director, Sunday School Teacher and Children’s Choir Director, family has always been the foundation for Gail Buckner’s efforts while she has worked to make Georgia a better place to live.

Buckner worked as Director of Women and Girls Programs at a YMCA to put herself through college. She has managed a national retail store and was focused on serving as a classroom teacher until she felt a calling for public service.