Joe Rice
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Joe Rice (born May 7, 1967) is a former legislator in the
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of
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, an
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
veteran, and a former mayor of
Glendale, Colorado The City of Glendale is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in an exclave of Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,613 at the 2020 ...
. Rice presently works for
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and also is a member of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
Reserve. He was elected to the city council of
Glendale, Colorado The City of Glendale is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in an exclave of Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,613 at the 2020 ...
in 1994 and to the post of mayor in 1996 on a
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of developing a "resident-friendly" community in the Denver enclave. Rice was re-elected in 2000 and later resigned from the post of mayor in 2003 when called up to serve the first of five tours on active duty in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. In Iraq, he has served as an advisor to the
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
city council and to Iraqi security forces. Rice won election to the
Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...
as a
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in 2006 and represented House District 38, which encompassed
Greenwood Village The City of Greenwood Village is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 15,691 at the 2020 United States census. Greenwood Village is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO ...
, Bow Mar, and
Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...
as well as parts of Englewood,
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,
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, and Columbine Valley. While in the legislature, Rice focused heavily on transportation issues and was a key sponsor of a 2009 transportation funding bill increasing vehicle registration fees in order to address a backlog of bridge and transportation requirements. Other key measures he promoted included the creation of a statewide
cold case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...
homicide unit and a reduction in the business
personal property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wea ...
. Rice served 2 two-year terms in the legislature, from 2007 to 2010. He narrowly lost re-election in 2010, losing by 51.5% to 48.5%.


Biography


Personal life

Born in
New Castle, Indiana New Castle is a city in Henry County, Indiana, United States. Located east-northeast of Indianapolis, on the Big Blue River, the city is the county seat of Henry County. New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school g ...
, Rice earned an associates degree from
New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports t ...
in 1987 and a bachelor's degree in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
from
Metropolitan State College of Denver Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver or Metro State) is a public university in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is located on the Auraria Campus, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver ...
in 1989 while serving in the Colorado National Guard. He later earned a
Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...
degree from the
University of Colorado at Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university located in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. Established in 1912 as an extension of the University of C ...
. Rice also earned a Masters of Strategic Studies degree from the United States Army War College in 2009. After being discharged from active military duty at
Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...
, Rice settled in
Glendale, Colorado The City of Glendale is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in an exclave of Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,613 at the 2020 ...
in 1990. Rice and his wife, Dr. Kendall Kershner-Rice, were married in 1990, and have three children — twins born in 2000, and a younger son born in 2005. They currently live in
Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...
. Among his hobbies, Rice enjoys jogging.


Military career

Rice enlisted in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
at the age of 17. After two years of enlisted service, and completing ROTC, Rice spent three years on active duty as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer. His military service included duty in
Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...
as a staff officer during UN peacekeeping operations, and as project officer for a
Colorado National Guard The Colorado National Guard consists of the Colorado Army National Guard and Colorado Air National Guard, forming the state of Colorado's component to the United States National Guard. Founded in 1860, the Colorado National Guard falls under ...
program to provide medical care to poor civilians. Presently a
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...
, Rice has been called up to serve five tours of duty in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
— from March 2003 to May 2004, where he was a senior U.S. military advisor to the
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
City Council; from October 2005 to February 2006, where he advised coalition forces on interactions with Iraqi civilians; from October 2007 to January 2008, where, as an operations analyst, he evaluated Iraqi military and police forces; and from May to October 2009, where he was involved in training Iraqi security forces. In 2009, having experienced the situation in Iraq firsthand for multiple years, Rice described progress in security and government and supported President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's military plans for Iraq and Afghanistan. Rice has completed Airborne and Ranger training, and has been awarded the
Iraq Campaign Medal The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. ...
, the
Combat Action Badge The Combat Action Badge (CAB) is a United States military Badges of the United States Army, award given to soldiers of the U.S. Army of any rank and who are not members of an infantry, special forces, or medical MOS, for being "present and active ...
, the Expert Infantryman's Badge, two Bronze Stars and the Joint Services Commendation Medal. Building upon his work in Baghdad, Rice has also helped coordinate the Baghdad-Denver Region Partnership for
Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of facilitating partnerships between communities within the United States and other countries by establishing sister cities. Sister cities are agreements of ...
since 2004. The partnership brought several delegations of Iraqis, including business leaders, government officials, and scholars. The most recent delegation was composed of Iraqi teenagers who lived with Colorado families. In 2008, Rice was appointed to the Board of Directors for Sister Cities International, and in 2009, he helped sponsor an Iraqi family's relocation to the United States.


Private sector career

From 1993 to 1995, Rice was the manager of Dismas House, a
halfway house A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...
for ex-convicts. In his first legislative campaign, Rice was criticized for his association with Dismas House founder Bob Sylvester, who was found guilty in 2000 of sexually abusing inmates. The incidents for which Sylvester was tried occurred after Rice left his employment at Dismas, and Rice testified on behalf of the prosecution during Sylvester's trial. Between 1994 and 2003, while in the National Guard and Army Reserve, Rice worked in the private sector as a customer service supervisor and trainer with MCI,
JD Edwards J.D. Edwards World Solution Company or JD Edwards, abbreviated JDE, was an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company, whose namesake ERP system is still sold under ownership by Oracle Corporation. JDE's products included ''World'' for ...
, and
Wells Fargo Bank Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
. From 2004 to 2005, Rice worked in government relations for the
Colorado Department of Transportation The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the government of Colorado, Colorado state government that administers state government responsibility for Transportation in Colorado, transport ...
. At the time of his first legislative campaign in 2006, Rice also worked as a self-employed management and training consultant, and was vice president of RIGOR Engineering Corporate Services, a consulting firm specializing in engineering project management.p


Mayor of Glendale

In 1994, Rice was elected to the Glendale, Colorado city council, running on a platform of shifting the small Denver enclave's business base away from adult-oriented businesses and towards a more "resident-family community." He was elected mayor in 1996. During his first term, Rice proposed new regulations on erotic dancers at Glendale nightclubs, garnering strong opposition from local business owners, who formed the "Glendale Tea Party" and elected three members to the city council in 1998 in response to the new regulations. Running for re-election, Rice faced opposition from Tea Party member Mike Dunafon, who promoted accusations that Rice used racial slurs and denigrated
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
and Mexican citizens. Rice was also criticized for being absent from Glendale during six months of his term as mayor, while he attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. However, after an election that saw record campaign spending and record turnout for Glendale, Rice defeated Dunafon and was re-elected to a second term in 2000. As mayor, Rice touted his efforts to lower city property taxes, expand city parks and open space, and open the city's first pre-school and recreation center. He served on the executive committee of the Denver Regional Council of Governments from 1995 to 2003, as vice-chair of the
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
Metro Mayors Caucus from 2001 to 2003, and received the John V. Christensen Award from the Denver Regional Council of Governments in 2004. In 2003, Rice resigned from his post as mayor during the last year of his second term after being called up to active military duty in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
.


Legislative career


2006 election

Republican Rep. Joe Stengel was
term-limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, wher ...
ed in 2006 and could not stand for re-election to the
Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...
from House District 38; both Rice and Republican Matt Dunn sought election to Stengel's house seat. In his campaign, Rice outlined his top legislative priorities as public safety, economic security, and quality of life. Rice was regarded by both conservative and liberal observers as a moderate Democrat, and is a member of the centrist
Democratic Leadership Council The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was a non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation that was active from 1985 to 2011. Founded and directed by Al From, it argued that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it had ...
. Rice was endorsed by the ''
Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'' and by both union groups (including the local chapter of the teachers' union
Colorado Education Association The Colorado Education Association (CEA) is a statewide federation of teacher and educational workers' labor unions in the state of Colorado in the United States. The CEA is a voluntary membership organization of 40,000 K-12 teachers and educatio ...
, and the Colorado Association of Public Employees, a branch of the
Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...
) and business interests (including the Colorado Subcontractors Association and the state
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
, the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry). He was also endorsed by Colorado Conservation Voters and the Colorado Medical Society. Rice ultimately defeated Dunn, earning 53 percent of the vote, and was sworn into office on January 10, 2007.


2007 legislative session

In the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Rice was vice-chairman of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee and a member of the House Transportation and Energy Committee. During the 2007 legislative session, Rice sponsored 16 pieces of legislation, including 11 as the primary sponsor in the House of Representatives. Among the most prominent of his bills was a measure to set up a
cold case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...
unit within the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to investigate Colorado's 1200 unsolved homicides. After passage, Gov. Ritter signed the bill into law. Rice also pursued legislation to cut taxes for businesses by raising the personal property tax exemption. After having passed the state house unanimously, the measure died in a Senate committee. Rice worked with fellow military officer and state senator Steve Ward on several pieces of legislation during his first term in the legislature. Rice sponsored legislation to allow military personnel serving overseas to apply for
absentee ballots Absentee or The Absentee may refer to: * Absentee (band), a British band * The Absentee, a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in ''Tales of Fashionable Life'' * ''The Absentee'' (1915 film), a 1915 American silent film directed by Christy ...
electronically; Ward was the Senate sponsor. Following the 2007 session, Rice and Ward called for Colorado to divest state pension funds from companies doing business in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Rice was a key player during House debate on a resolution critical of the ongoing
War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. , style="background:#F88" , Coalition of Gulf War, Coalition victory * Kuwait, State of Kuwait resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory * Esta ...
; he supported amendments to the resolution to remove specific criticism of the 2007 troop surge, but supported the final compromise version, which called for eventual withdrawal from Iraq and passed on a party-line vote. Rice was also the house sponsor of legislation introduced in the Colorado State Senate to make driving without a
seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
a primary offense; the measure narrowly failed in the House despite Rice's objections during a heated debate that defeating the bill would "kill kids." For his voting record during the 2007 legislative session, Rice earned a 4% rating from the fiscally conservative Colorado Union of Taxpayers and a 100% rating from the environmentally-oriented Colorado Conservation Voters; both ratings placed him at opposite end of the Democratic caucus from average Republican ratings. Following the regular session, Rice served on the legislature's Police Officers' and Firefighters' Pension Reform Commission and the interim Transportation Legislation Review Committee.


2008 legislative session

At the start of the 2008 legislature year, Rice was still in Iraq on his third tour of duty. His absence was acknowledged by lawmakers during their opening speeches, his seat was decorated with
yellow ribbon The yellow ribbon is used for various purposes. It may be worn on a person, placed on a vehicle, around a tree, or for a neck tie. History and etymology "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" Yellow is the official color of the armor branch of the U.S ...
s, and his children were invited to lead the
Pledge of Allegiance The U.S Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States. The first version was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army o ...
on the first day of the session. During his time in Iraq, Rice met with Colorado Governor
Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...
, Congressman
Ed Perlmutter Edwin George Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, his district was located in the northern and western suburbs of the De ...
, and Congressional candidate
Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...
during their trips to the country, and also met with U.S. Marine and Colorado state senator Steve Ward, who was stationed in Iraq at the same time. Rice returned to the legislature on January 28, 2008, and was received with a standing ovation during the morning roll call. In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Rice sits on the House Transportation and Energy Committee, and is vice-chairman of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. During the session, Rice has explored introducing legislation to increase vehicle registration fees in order boost transportation funding, and plans on introducing legislation to make aggravated rape of a child under 12 a capital crime, eligible for the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
. Rice also introduced legislation to exempt some school fundraisers from
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
, a measure which he placed on hold pending consideration of a broader measure by Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg. Rice and Sonnenberg ultimately combined their efforts and integrated the two bills, both of which became law. Rice re-introduced a bill that had passed the House but failed in the Senate the previous year to raise the business personal property tax exemption, after the measure was endorsed by Gov. Ritter as part of his economic development platform. The legislation, which raised the exemption from $2,500 to $7,000, was ultimately passed by the legislature and signed into law. Rice also hoped to sponsor legislation supported by Ritter to raise vehicle registration fees in order to fund road and bridge repairs, but failed to find a suitable cosponsor for the bill. Late in the session, though, Rice signed on as House sponsor on a measure to raise registration and rental fees to create trust funds for transportation; the measure was later dropped in favor of a bipartisan study committee between legislative sessions. In March 2008, Rice received the Bridge Builders Award from the Colorado Contractors Association for his work on transportation issues.


2008 election

Rice sought a second term in the legislature in the 2008 statewide elections, facing Republican Dave Kerber. Holding office in a seat with voter registration numbers favoring Republicans, the race was expected to be strongly contested. Rice's re-election bid was endorsed by the ''
Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'', and he ultimately won with 54 percent of the popular vote.


2009 legislative session

Besides chairing the House Business Affairs Committee during the regular legislative session, in November 2008, Rice was named vice-chair of a special legislative Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth, tasked with developing recommendations on bolstering Colorado's economy before the 2009 legislative session. The committee presented a slate of jobs-related legislation at the start of the 2009 session; one measure, sponsored by Rice, would offer tax credits to companies that create 20 jobs in urban areas or 10 jobs in rural areas. With Republican Rep. Amy Stephens, Rice also sponsored legislation allowing health insurance providers to offer discounts for participation in wellness programs. At the request of the Colorado Association of Transit Agencies, Rice also sponsored legislation requiring drivers to yield to transit buses re-entering traffic. Towards the end of the session, Rice prominently broke with Democrats to oppose the removal of
capital gains tax A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. In South Africa, capital g ...
breaks and to oppose granting unemployment benefits to locked-out workers. Rice also sponsored legislation to create a hybrid public-private health insurance system to cover low-income Colorado residents; this bill passed the Senate and House but was not signed into law by the governor. Rice was the sponsor of a major transportation funding proposal backed by Gov.
Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...
and other Democratic leaders, including Senate sponsor Dan Gibbs. The proposal, labeled "FASTER," an acronym for Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery, would yield $250 million in funding, aimed primarily at road and bridge repair, by increasing a range of vehicle registration fees. FASTER passed the legislature without the support of Republicans, who objected to the level of fee increases and called for resources besides fees to be used to support transportation; additional complaints surfaced from both Republican leaders and the public after the fee increases took effect. Following the 2009 session, Rice was named a legislator of the year by the Southeast Business Partnership, and received the Chairs' Award for Outstanding Efforts in Economic Development from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.


2010 legislative session

Rice co-sponsored a bill which made multiple changes to the Colorado education system, it was signed into law on 20 May, 2010. Rice also sponsored a bill related to the creative industry sector of the Colorado economy. The bill dedicated 1% of state capital construction spending towards funding public art for state capitol construction projects.


2010 election

Rice's district, which contained more registered Republicans than Democrats, was one of those targeted by Colorado Republicans hoping to make gains during the midterm 2010 legislative elections. Rice narrowly lost re-election in 2010 to Kathleen Conti, losing 51.5% to 48.5% (892 votes out of 30,510 votes cast) in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by almost 10 points in voter registration.


Life and public service after politics

After the 2010 election, Rice returned to work in the private sector, where he works as the Director of Government Relations at
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Littleton, Colorado, with additional sites in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Sunnyvale, California; Santa Cruz, California; Huntsville ...
. Though no longer in elected office, he remains active with a number of community organizations and civic groups.


External links

* Rice'
voting recordlist of bills sponsored
an
campaign finance details
via Project Vote Smart


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Joe 1967 births Living people Members of the Colorado House of Representatives People from New Castle, Indiana University of Colorado Denver alumni Colorado city council members 21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly