| State Representative Katie Dempsey was elected in November 2006 to represent Georgia's House District 13, which includes the city of Rome and parts of Floyd County. Katie currently serves as the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Resources, in which she is responsible for crafting a portion of the state's amended and general fiscal year budgets. Katie also serves on the following House standing committees- Economic Development and Tourism; Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications; Health and Human Services; Higher Education; Transportation; Special Committee on Healthcare; and Rules. In addition to serving on eight House committees, Katie is appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve on the Georgia Behavioral Health Coordinating Council. The governor appointed Katie to serve on the Georgia Children's Cabinet, the Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis and the State of Georgia Older Adults Cabinet. She also serves on the Division of Family and Children Services' State of Hope Statewide Design Team. Furthermore, Katie has been appointed to several regional and national leadership organizations, such as the Southern Legislative Conference's Human Services & Public Safety Committee and the National Conference of State Legislatures' Education Committee. She is currently serving on The Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures State Exchange on Employment and Disability's (SEED) Mental Health Policy Task Force. Katie's legislative record proves her strong dedication and passion for serving the citizens of Georgia. Among her legislative accomplishments, she has championed legislation to increase suicide awareness and prevention training for school employees; to help Georgians suffering from obesity and health challenges caused by obesity; to require school systems to distribute information related to influenza; to require high schools to provide students with instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators. Katie was also instrumental in the creation of the My Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) app, which enables users to receive immediate support by communicating with caring GCAL professionals via text message, chat or phone. As a result of her legislative work, Katie was named the 2017 Georgia Representative of the Year by the National Alliance of Mental Illness and the Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics. She has also received the Friends of Children Award from the Georgia Professional Human Services Association and was honored by the U.S. Department of Defense for her legislative work on behalf of veterans. Katie remains active within her district and serves on several local non-profit and health-related boards. She is married to Lynn Dempsey and is the mother of 2 and grandmother of 7. |