About Katrina

Representative Katrina Shankland was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. She lives in Stevens Point and represents Wisconsin’s 71st Assembly District, which covers Portage County in Central Wisconsin.

Rep. Shankland currently serves as the ranking member on the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development and Economic Opportunities and the Assembly Committee on the Environment. She also serves as a member of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, the Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage, the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, the Wisconsin Council on Forestry, and the Governor's Council on Workforce Investment. She has previously served as Vice Chair of the Speaker's Task Force on Water Quality and Vice Chair of the Speaker’s Task Force on Youth Workforce Readiness, as the Assistant Assembly Democratic Leader, as a member of the Governor's Council on Domestic Abuse, and as a member of the Joint Finance Committee, the 16-member committee responsible for the state budget, as well as the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board.

Rep. Shankland is also the Wisconsin State Lead for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL), Co-Chair of the Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, a co-founder and member of the Legislative Children's Caucus, a member of the Wisconsin Paper Caucus, and is a member of the Wisconsin Wing, Civil Air Patrol Legislative Squadron, rank of Major. Civil Air Patrol is the official Auxiliary of the United States Air Force. In the community, she is a member of the Born Learning Steering Committee to expand investments in early childhood development.

Rep. Shankland has been recognized by a number of nonpartisan organizations for her leadership in the Legislature. In the 2017-18 legislative session, she was named Legislator of the Year by the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs' Association, the Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin. In 2018, she was also named Friend of the Family Farmer by the Wisconsin Farmers Union, Friend of Family Medicine by the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, and Friend of Public Health by the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards and the Wisconsin Public Health Association. In 2019, she was named Legislator of the Year by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and the Wisconsin Paper Council, and she was recognized for Distinguished Service by a Wisconsin Representative by Wisconsin's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). In 2020, Rep. Shankland received the Friend of Conservation Award from Wisconsin Land + Water, an organization representing 450 Land Conservation Committee supervisors and 350 conservation staff in 72 county Land Conservation Department offices. She was also awarded the Higher Education Hero Award by the UW-Stevens Point Academic Representation Council and a Legislative Leadership Award by the RENEW Wisconsin Energy Fund. Additionally, she was named an Outstanding Legislator by the Wisconsin Counties Association and a Friend of Home Health Care by the Wisconsin Association of Home Health Care for her work during the 2019-2020 session. In 2021, she was also named a Community Health Center State Grant Champion by the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association. In 2022, the Portage County EMS Association awarded her the President Award, and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) named her as a recipient of their Friend of Education Award for her work during the 2021-22 legislative session. In 2023, she received the Dairy Business Association’s Legislative Excellence Award and the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association’s Champion of Electric Cooperatives distinction. Finally, in 2024, she once again received the Dairy Business Association's Legislative Excellence Award, as well as a 2024 Conservation Champion by Wisconsin Conservation Voters, the Early Detection Life Saver Award, and a Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation.

Rep. Shankland champions expanding opportunities for working families and is a strong advocate for clean government, veterans, strengthening access to health care, investing in our public schools, technical colleges, and universities, protecting our shared natural resources, and growing family-supporting jobs. Both Rep. Shankland and her husband Jed are alumni of UW-Stevens Point, and she recognizes the tremendous value our university adds to the community, region, and state and frequently advocates for UWSP in the Legislature. She ran for office to give everyone in Central Wisconsin a voice in the Capitol and to fight for opportunities for everyone to succeed. 

In her free time, Rep. Shankland enjoys biking the Green Circle Trail, long walks with her dogs Stitch and Lyra, visiting Central Wisconsin's many breweries, distilleries and wineries with her husband Jed, and enjoying the live music and events that make the Stevens Point area so special. From the Rising Star Mill in Nelsonville to Sunset Lake in Amherst Junction, Katrina enjoys the beauty of Portage County - especially the incredible people.