|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
State Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter, R – Rainsville, the House Republican Caucus nominee for speaker of the Alabama House, announced on Wednesday that he plans to appoint former State Representative Mark M. Tuggle of Alexander City as his office’s chief of staff if elected to lead the body during an organizational session in January.
Tuggle has held the same position under Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R – Monrovia, for the past four years.
“Mark was an outstanding legislator during his time in the Alabama House, and he has proven himself to be an equally talented chief of staff under Speaker McCutcheon,” Ledbetter said. “I know that Mark will be a source of wise counsel and sage advice as we work to tackle the challenges that Alabama faces in the coming quadrennium, and I look forward to working alongside him if elected speaker.”
Tuggle, who was twice elected to the House District 81 seat before retiring from the body in 2018, served as chairman of the House State Government Committee and also held a seat on the House Internal Affairs Committee.
He served for eight years on the prestigious House Ways and Means Education Committee, which at that time annually allocated more than $6 billion in education funding to Alabama’s K-12 public schools, community colleges, and public colleges and universities. The Education Trust Fund budget currently exceeds $8 billion.
Tuggle was appointed to serve as Speaker McCutcheon’s chief of staff in November 2018.
A professional forester for more than three decades, Tuggle retired from the Alabama Power Company prior to his House service and later worked as a freelance consultant on forestry and timber matters. He and his wife, Michelle, have one daughter, Dee.
