Tom Vilsack
From Freepedia
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Thomas J. Vilsack | |
| Order: | 40th Governor of Iowa |
| Term of Office: | January 1999 – |
| Predecessor: | Terry E. Branstad |
| Successor: | Incumbent |
| Date of Birth: | December 13, 1950 |
| Place of Birth: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| First Lady: | Christie Vilsack |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political Party: | Democrat |
| Lieutenant Governor: | Sally Pederson (1999–present) |
Thomas James Vilsack (born December 13 1950, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was elected 40th Governor of the state of Iowa in 1998. He was reelected to a second four-year term in 2002. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
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Early life and family
Vilsack was orphaned at birth and he was placed in a Catholic orphanage several days after birth. His name was "Kenneth" before he was adopted in 1951 as an infant by Bud and Dolly Vilsack. His adoptive father was a real-estate agent and insurance salesman, and his adoptive mother was a homemaker. He had one sister, Alice, who was six years older than he and who died in her mid-40s.
He went to high school at Shady Side Academy, a private school in Pittsburgh. He received his bachelor's degree in 1972 from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he was also a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. During the early 1970s he met his wife Christine Bell. He then went to Albany Law School, and received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1975. He then passed the bar exam. A few years later he and his wife decided to move to her hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Vilsack then joined his father-in-law in his law practice.
Tom and Christie Vilsack have two sons – Jess and Doug. Both have graduated from college. Jess graduated from the University of Iowa Law School in May 2003. Doug graduated at about the same time from Colorado College.
Early political career
Vilsack was first elected mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1987. Vilsack was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 1992. As a State Senator, Vilsack worked to require companies who received state tax incentives to provide better pay and benefits. He also helped pass a law which allowed workers to receive their health coverage when changing jobs, and helped redesign the state's Workforce Development Department. In addition, he wrote a bill which required the state to pay for 50% of county mental health costs.
Governorship
In 1998 former conservative Republican Governor of Iowa, Terry E. Branstad, decided not to seek re-election after having served 16 years as Governor. Tom Vilsack soon emerged as the Democratic candidate. His Republican opponent was Jim Ross Lightfoot, a former Representative to the US House. Vilsack's election marked the first time in about 30 years that a Democrat was elected as Governor.
The Vilsack administration was involved with increasing the number of children covered by health insurance by 300%. He also created a statewide drug-purchasing organization, to reduce the price of prescription drugs for the elderly. Vilsack also secured 1,000,000 (USD) from the federal government for a 17-county task force whose goal is to eliminate methamphetamine production. His budget also provided for the construction of a new $50,000,000 (USD) state crime lab.
In 2002 he won his second term in office by defeating Republican challenger Doug Gross, a lawyer from Des Moines and former chief of staff to Terry Branstad.
The first year of his second term saw the creation of the Iowa Values Fund, a $503-million fund designed to help boost the Iowa economy by creating higher-income jobs. Vilsack used a line-item veto to pass the fund while vetoing portions of the same bill that would have cut income taxes and eased business regulations. This prompted a lawsuit from Republican leaders in the Iowa Legislature who claimed that line-item vetoes cannot be used on non-appropriation bills. On June 16, 2004, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that Vilsack's use of the line-item veto was unconstitutional -- and the entire bill, including the Iowa Values Fund, was nullified. By that time the fund had made commitments to over 30 companies. After a special legislative session on September 7, 2004, $100 million in state money was set aside to honor those commitments. The Iowa Values Fund was reinstated at the end of the 2005 session, as $50 million a year will be set aside over the next ten years.
As the economy turned sour, a budget crisis hit as tax revenues decreased, which Vilsack has had to concentrate on in the 2003 and 2004 legislative sessions.
For most of Vilsack's tenure as governor, Republicans have held majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. However, after the November 2, 2004, elections, the 50-member Senate became evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans continued to hold a 51-49 majority in the House.
During the 2005 legislative session, Vilsack signed a bill that requires products that contain pseudoephedrine to be sold behind pharmacy counters; anyone wishing to buy such products is required to show identification and sign a log book first. The new law, designed to reduce methamphetamine use in Iowa, took effect on May 21, 2005. Another anti-crime law was passed after 10-year-old Jetseta Gage of Cedar Rapids was murdered by a convicted sex crime offender on March 24. The new law extends prison sentences and strengthens supervision of sex offenders once they are released from prison. The 2005 session ended on May 20, three weeks later than usual, after a budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year was approved.
Currently Vilsack is a member of the National Governors' Association Executive Committee. He was the chairman of the Democratic Governors' Association in 2004, and he was also previously involved with the Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) program. He had also participated in the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership, the Ethanol Coalition, and the Midwest Governor's Conference.
Recent Events
Prior to Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry's (D-Massachusetts) selection of Senator John Edwards, Vilsack was thought to be high on the list of potential running mates for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. During the Kerry campaign some political observers felt that the chances were good that Vilsack would have been offered a cabinet level position in the event of a Kerry victory.
Vilsack's current term will expire in 2007. Governor Vilsack has recently said that he would not seek a third term as governor. As a result a number of leading Republicans and Democrats - such as Republican Jim Nussle and Democrats Ed Fallon and Chet Culver - have begun to explore running for the Governor's office.
Vilsack's name was recently put forth as a possible candidate to chair the Democratic National Committee after the term of chairman Terry McAuliffe had expired. Vilsack withdrew his name from consideration for that post on November 22, 2004. He stated that he did that in order to focus on his governing agenda for the last two years of his term. There has also been some speculation about a possible Presidential run in 2008.
On July 16, 2005, Vilsack was named chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, an appointment which will allow him to travel widely and converse with party leaders. This may further his chances of winning the presidential nomination should he choose to seek it.
External links
| Preceded by: Terry E. Branstad | Governor of Iowa 1999–present | Succeeded by: — |
Categories: 1950 births | American lawyers | Governors of Iowa | Iowa politicians | People from Iowa | People from Pittsburgh | People from Pennsylvania | Roman Catholics | Roman Catholic politicians
