Thompson, a Democrat, has been named by Governor Roy Barnes to his Floor Leader team in the Senate. In addition, he is a member of the Appropriations; Banking and Financial Institutions; Finance and Public Utilities; and Transportation committees. He is an ex officio member of the Rules committee.

He is also a member of the Finance and Public Utilities Committee and the Banking & Financial Institutions Committee. Prior to his appointment to the Transportation panel in December, 1994, he headed the Urban and County Affairs Committee.

Before his election to the Senate, Thompson served five terms in the Georgia House of Representatives (1980-90) where he was a member of the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Rules Committees.

During his tenure in the House, he also chaired several key legislative sub-panels including the Tax Administration Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, the General Banking Subcommittee of the Banks and Banking Committee, and the Interstate Highway Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee.

In addition to his standing committee assignments, Thompson has headed the Georgia Product Study Commission and served as secretary, vice-chairman and chairman of the Cobb County Legislative Delegation.

He is a member of the State Commission on Family Violence and chaired the Senate Study Committee on Children at Risk. He served as co-chairman of the Joint Boundaries of Regional Development Centers Study Committee and is currently vice-chairman of the Georgia Rail Passenger Overview Committee.

Senator Thompson represents Georgia on the Transportation Committee and the Federal Preemption and State-Federal Affairs Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC). He also represents the state on the State-Local Relations Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). He previously served on the NCSL's Children and Family Services Committee.

In 1985, then-Governor Joe Frank Harris named Thompson chairman of the Governor's Commission for the Protection of Children which recommended a far-reaching package of child protection bills approved by the General Assembly the following year.

Born December 22, 1950 in Cobb County, Thompson earned an associate degree in business from Kennesaw State College and graduated from the Georgia Banking School through the University of Georgia. He served in the U.S. Navy on the flight crews of the USS Forestal and the USS Lexington.

Thompson is the founder and president of The Affiliates Public Relations Group of Cobb County and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Bank and Trust Company. He previously served as vice-president of the Georgia State Bank.

Active in professional, civic and community affairs, Thompson is a member of the Cobb County Development Authority, the Marietta Kiwanis Club, the Lathem Lodge F & AM (Masons), the Open Gate Advisory Board, the A.L. Burruss Institute of Government Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees of Kennesaw State College and the Board of Directors of the Romeo Hudgins Vo-Tech Foundations.

He is a lifetime member of the Georgia Jaycees and past president of the South Cobb Jaycees. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Cobb County Senior Citizens Council and the advisory panel for South Cobb and Pebblebrook High Schools.

Thompson was named one of Georgia's Five Outstanding Young Men in 1984 and was also named to Leadership Georgia the same year. He received the Georgia Council for Children's Friend of Children Award for 1986 and 1987 and was named Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Council on Child Abuse in 1986. He has also been honored by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) for his legislative leadership on behalf of cities. In 1996, Thompson was named Legislator of the Year by four state associations.

He was listed in Who's Who in Georgia in 1983 and has also been honored by the Cobb County Senior Citizens Council, the Cobb County Association of Educators, the Cobb Commission on Children and Youth, the Georgia Child Abuse Council and the YWCA. He has been named a lifetime member of the Georgia PTA and the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

Thompson is a recipient of Leadership Cobb's W. Wyman Pilcher Jr., Memorial Scholarship and was named Cobb Democrat of the Year for 1988. In 1989, Thompson was included among the "Best of the House" in Bill Shipp's Georgia.

Thompson is a member of the Powder Springs First Baptist Church. He is married to the former Lisa Marie Phillips and is the father of one daughter, Jennifer Amy.

The 33rd District which Thompson represents includes portions of Cobb County.

November 1998