Joe Rice

By Heather Sackett, The Littleton Independent
Published: 06.03.10

State Rep. Joe Rice has spent the past five summers either in Iraq or campaigning. And this year is no different.

The Democrat from Littleton is hitting the state House campaign trail for the third time. He is defending his House District 38 seat against Republican challenger and political newcomer Kathleen Conti.

After two very busy terms in the state House of Representatives, Rice said he considered not running this year. But in the end, his commitment to public service won out.

“There are tough times in Colorado with the economy and everything,” said the colonel in the Army Reserve, “and I don’t want to leave when there are still things I think we need to do.”

The biggest issues facing his district, like much of the rest of the state, are the economy and education, Rice said. Coming off a year when state legislators made tough decisions to balance the budget by cutting more than $2 billion in spending, Rice will be taking that message door to door.

“There weren’t any easy cuts this year,” he said. “There were just less-bad ones.”

The issue of education funding is hitting home for Littleton Public Schools, which will likely ask voters for $12 million this fall in the form of a mill levy override election to make up for state funding shortfalls. Rice says there is no silver bullet to solve the problem and that the day is coming when the state will have to ask voters for more money to fund K-12.

“(LPS) will probably, I hope, have success with their mill levy, but not every community in the state can do that,” he said. “Ultimately, the state is going to have to go to the voters for some type of revenue increase and you aren’t going to be able to do it in these economic times. Only when the economy is recovering and people feel optimistic will they want to put things back we’ve cut in the lean times.”

The problem with education funding, Rice said, is that over the years amendments to the state constitution like the Gallagher amendment and TABOR, have decreased the local share of taxes that go toward education and increased the school funding burden on the state.

“There aren’t any easy answers,” Rice said. “To say we are being taxed to death sounds good, but in real dollars we are paying less.”

Conti has criticized Rice, who has strong Republican backing, for talking like a conservative and not advertising himself as a Democrat. But Rice — who has lived in Arapahoe County for more than 20 years, seven of those as mayor of Glendale — says voters know with certainty to which party he belongs.

“I think its kind of insulting to the people who voted for me,” he said. “People know I’m a Democrat. It says it on the ballot.”

Rice has also been criticized for sponsoring a piece of legislation in 2009 known as the FASTER bill, which provides funding for road and bridge repair. It also raised car registration fees.

Rice admits that raising fees, which are the same for everyone regardless of income, was not a politically popular thing to do. But public safety on the roadways is more important, he said, and the gas tax is not enough to pay for much-needed repairs.

“In Colorado we ended up with 126 structurally deficient bridges,” he said. “We did have a bridge collapse in Colorado three years ago and it killed two people. The politically popular thing to do would not be to run these things, but I actually got involved to make things better. Sometimes it involves tax cuts and sometimes it involves increases like FASTER.”

At this time last year, Rice was serving a combat tour in Iraq. He returned home on Dec. 24, 2009, before the last legislative session began. His 25 years of military service are a big part of who Rice is, and have no doubt won him some Republican votes in this traditionally Republican district. Rice recognizes that, but says it’s more than his four tours in Iraq that make him a popular politician among District 38 voters.

“I take the job seriously,” he said. “I try to work hard. I try to be responsive to people. I will meet with anyone, anytime who wants to meet about anything.”

Rice says he could not be elected without the support of Republicans in his district. This November, he will be tested again on his ability to bridge the gap between the two parties and transcend partisan politics.

“I think even the vast majority of people who claim a party I don’t think are very partisan,” he said. “I think they actually still like to look at things on their merits and decide things on a case by case basis. Democrats and Republicans are not on different teams. We are all on the same team here, or at least we should be.”

Even though it’s sure to be a busy summer, filled with campaigning and teaching night classes on the U.S. Constitution at the University of Phoenix, Rice hopes to find at least a little time to relax with his wife and three kids.

“We haven’t taken a family vacation of any kind in a couple of years,” he said. “I’d like to go camping in the mountains or Durango, maybe New Mexico.”

Article available here.