Chairman - Public Safety and Homeland Security

Representative Burke Day is Chairman of the Public Safety Committee of Georgia’s House of Representatives. Rep. Day represents the 163rd district -- largely Chatham County -- and lives on Tybee Island. He’s also a Member of the Appropriations, Retirement, and Ways & Means Committees. The legislator has served in the House for 10 years, first being elected in 1993. Rep. Day has spent 10 years in the House as the ranking Member of the House Public Safety Committee. He helped rewrite Georgia’s "Right to Carry" and "Concealed Weapons" laws among many others. Rep. Day has served on the Appropriations Committee for eight years and equally as much on the Ways & Means Committee. From these positions, Rep. Day helped to initiate real property tax reform laws in 1996. Later, he helped lead the development of landmark property tax legislation that is now being implemented in other states like Texas. He co-authored the repeal of the Intangibles Tax.

As a former Police Commissioner, Rep. Day knows how vital components of public safety systems work on international, federal, state and local levels. Rep. Day currently serves on two confidential task forces established by George W. Bush, formed after September 11, 2001. On these committees, Rep. Day works with federal agencies, including the F.B.I., U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Attorney’s office, I.C.E. and others. He works closely with leaders of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia State Patrol, GEMA, Office of Homeland Security, Association of Georgia Police Chiefs and state sheriffs. At 52 years of age, Day obtained his Master’s in Criminal Justice to increase and strengthen his knowledge in the vast field of Public Safety even more.

Chairman Day was the keynote speaker at 2007’s world renown International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism. This independent think tank drew over 1,000 delegates from 65 countries at its recent conference held in Herzliya, Israel. This institute (ICT) develops expertise frequently used by the international community in homeland security, terrorism, counter-terrorism, threat vulnerability and risk assessment, intelligence analysis, and national security and defense policy. Rep. Day has already been invited to speak again at ICT’s 2008 international conference.

Rep. Day is an avid property tax reformer with a record to show. He is also chief architect and co-sponsor of the Stephens-Day Property Tax Relief Bill that passed in November of 2000. Rep. Day is also the author of "The Public’s Right to Know" bill, which strengthens the ethics and efficiency of state government.

Married to high school sweetheart Sally, they have three adult sons - Brandon, Jonathan and Daniel. Brandon and Andrea Day made Day a new grandfather with the recent birth of Madison Noelle Day.