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Former State Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens advises JTA clients on a wide range of strategic, communications and political issues in government and business. Prior to coming to JTA, Stephens was president of a small business communications firm and spent ten years in the banking industry in North Georgia.
Stephens served eight years in the Georgia State Senate rising from a back-bench freshman Senator in the Minority party to Senate Majority leader in less than five years. After his freshmen term his colleagues elected him as Senate Republican Caucus Chairman where he and a group of others designed and implemented the strategy that lead to the historic transition of the Senate from Democratic to Republican control. Following that historic election, Stephens became a member and spokesperson of Governor-Elect Sonny Perdue’s Transition Team. He was named the first Georgia Senate Republican Administration Floor Leader in 134 years and soon thereafter was named Senate Majority Leader. Stephens lost a runoff election for Georgia Secretary of State in 2006.
During his tenure, Stephens served a term as Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and Vice Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He was the author or co-author of over twenty pieces of major legislation and served on the three-member Senate Budget Conference Committee. Stephens built a reputation for pointing out real life examples of wasteful governmental spending through the creation of the “Georgia Stuck Pig Award,” which was given annually for a number of years to recognize the most egregious examples of inappropriate spending of taxpayer dollars. He received numerous recognitions and awards from groups and associations including the “National Guardian of Small Business Award” presented by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Early in his career, Stephens served as Georgia Governor Zell Miller’s first Spokesperson and Director of Communications and as Press Secretary for Miller during his last two years as Lieutenant Governor.
A fifth generation native of the North Georgia Mountains, Stephens attended Gainesville College on a basketball scholarship and later received his BBA Degree from the University of Georgia and MBA from Georgia State University.
Stephens and his wife, Shannon Walshe Stephens, a former reporter/anchor at WSB-television, keep-up with five sons, including a Senior at UGA who was a walk-on member of the 2006-2007 Bulldog Basketball team, and a Junior attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on a football scholarship. They are members of the Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Woodstock Georgia. |
