Joe Rice
State Representative, Colorado House District 38
Joe Rice
Joe Rice (D) is the State Representative for House District 38, which is mostly in Arapahoe County, and includes the cities of Littleton, Greenwood Village, and Englewood, and the towns of Bow Mar and Columbine Valley. He is serving his second full-term and is chair of the Business Affairs and Labor Committee.
In his first session of the legislature, Rep. Rice served as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Business Affairs and Labor, and was a member of the Committee on Transportation & Energy. He was recognized as being one of the most bi-partisan and effective representatives in the legislature, passing 18 bills in his first session. These measures included establishing a statewide Cold Case Unit for unsolved homicides, and a number of measures that benefit citizens, consumers, businesses, military personnel, and veterans. Rep. Rice also sponsored HB 1225, which cuts taxes for small businesses by increasing the Business Personal Property Tax exemption from $2,500 to $7,000, freeing up funds for over 30,000 small business owners to grow their companies and expand their work force.
Legislation in his second term included bringing the first new funding in over 18 years to repair Colorado’s roads and bridges, benefiting safety and reducing long term costs. He is also credited for implementing an innovative tax credit for economic development that has brought hundreds of jobs to Arapahoe County and thousands to Colorado so far in 2010 alone. Finally, Rep. Rice sponsored important public safety legislation to protect children from sexual predators and that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals.
Rep. Rice served as the mayor of Glendale, which is also in Arapahoe County, from 1996 to 2003. As mayor, he promoted the city’s economic development by balancing the budget, cutting taxes, and attracting quality businesses. He also tripled the amount of parks, trails, and open space in the city, and built Glendale’s first preschool and recreation center.
Rep. Rice has served in the military for over 24 years, mostly in the Army Reserve, and presently holds the rank of Colonel. He’s served several tours on active duty, including peacekeeping in Bosnia-Herzegovina and four combat tours in Iraq. Col. Rice has twice been awarded the Bronze Star for service in Iraq, which included among other duties, establishing the first post-Saddam Baghdad City Council. He has also been awarded the Combat Action Badge for actions under enemy fire and numerous other awards and decorations.
Rep. Rice has over fifteen years of private sector business experience, primarily as a Customer Service Supervisor, Manager, and Trainer with MCI, JDEdwards, and Wells Fargo Bank. He presently works as adjunct faculty with the University of Phoenix and as a consultant, mostly in the areas of management, training, and meeting facilitation. Rep. Rice is also active with a number of international education and exchange organizations including Sister Cities International.
Rep. Rice and his wife Kendall have been married 20 years and have three young children: twins Harrison and Alexandria who are 9, and 5 year-old Dalton.
Joe is a member of the United States Army Reserve. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
