Thomas Vilsack

Thomas J. Vilsack (born December 13 1950) was elected 39th Governor of the U.S. State of Iowa in 1998. He was reelected to a second four-year term in 2002.

Early life and family

Vilsack was orphaned at birth, and was adopted in 1951.

Vilsack first received his bachelor's degree in 1972 from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. During the early 1970's he met his wife Christine Bell. He then went to Albany Law School, and received his law 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 (pop. 8,751) 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 Gov. Terry Branstad decided not to seek reelection 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 lower and reduce the price of prescription drugs for the elderly.

Vilsack also secured 1 million dollars 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 million 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.

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.

One of the main problems Vilsack has is that he has a reputation of being a "tax and spend" Democrat in the state. Those who see him that way have pointed to the fact that general fund spending had increased during his term at about 8 percent per year during the first two years in office. Critics feel that overspending by the state caused the current budget crisis. He also approved expansion of expenditures dealing with salaries despite the fact that the budget crisis was already in full force. Also, he has called for the use of bonds for some projects, which critics feel would give the state an unnecessary debt burden.

Currently Vilsack is the Chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association. He is also a member of the National Governors’ Association Executive Committee. Vilsack had been 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.

A Possible Vice President?

Prior to Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) choosing Senator John Edwards as his running mate, Vilsack was thought to be high on the list of potential running mates for Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Even though Kerry has chosen his running mate, some political observers feel that the chances are good that Vilsack would be offered a cabinet level position in the event of a Kerry victory.

If Vilsack remains as governor, his current term will expire in 2006. 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 have begun to explore running for the Governor's office.