Bolkcom seeking fourth term in Iowa Senate

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

Sen. Joe Bolkcom will seek a fourth term from Senate 39, which covers Iowa City and University Heights.

“Helping middle class Iowans and small business owners from Senate District 39 emerge from this national economic recession is my top priority,” Bolkcom said.

Bolkcom, 53, serves as chairman of the Ways & Means Committee where is he working to increase oversight over corporate tax subsides.

 “We are finally moving closer to giving corporate tax subsidies the same sort of regular, skeptical review the rest of the budget gets,” the Iowa City Democrat said. “Are these corporate tax credits helping create the jobs as promised or bringing the economic growth to our communities that they intended? If they're not, we need to restructure them or eliminate them.”

Among his accomplishments, Bolkcom said, are banning predatory car title loans, creating smoke free workplaces and raising teacher pay.

He is an assistant majority leader and serves on the Appropriations, Commerce, Environment & Energy Independence, Human Resources, and Natural Resources committees.

Bolkcom was a Johnson County supervisor for six years before being elected to the Senate in 1998.

Before that, Bolkcom worked for three years at the county public health department helping address the county's leading health issues including youth access to tobacco products and environmental health concerns.

For nearly a decade, Bolkcom helped found and direct two senior citizen advocacy organizations fighting for lower health care costs for seniors in Iowa and Illinois. He has also been active in state and local environmental protection efforts.

Bolkcom graduated from Saint Ambrose University and earned a master's degree in public affairs from University of Iowa.

For more, contact Bolkcom at (319) 337-6280 or joe@joebolkcom.org.”