Ken Rizer

Ken Rizer (born September 17, 1964) is an American politician. A Republican, he has served the 68th District in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2015. Rizer is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force and currently an assistant professor of aviation at the University of Dubuque.

Beginning January 2017, Rizer serves on four committees in the Iowa House – Judiciary, Public Safety, Ways & Means, and as the chair of State Government.^[1]

Early life

Rizer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from Southwest High School in Minneapolis.

Education

Rizer attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he received a B.S. in Foreign Affairs and Political Science and was accepted into the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship program. As a junior officer in the United States military, Rizer was admitted to The Olmsted Scholar Program, where he studied Swedish at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute before spending two years at Stockholm University in Sweden studying International Security.^[2] He received his masters in Strategic Studies at Air University’s Air War College, an MPA in Leadership, Politics, and National Security from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Iowa.^[3]

Military career

Ken served 25 years as an Air Force fighter pilot and commander, completing 15 assignments and leading men and women in combat during tours in Iraq.^[4] He led Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force One, as Base Commander.^[5]

Civilian career

After retiring from the military in 2012, Rizer became the Senior Vice President of Operations for Goodwill Industries Goodwill of the Heartland.^[6] He currently holds a position as an assistant professor of aviation at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, IA.^[7]

Political stances

Education

During the 2017 legislative session, Rizer voted to increase funding for K-12 schools by an additional $40 million to a yearly total of almost $3.2 billion. ^[8]

Rizer also voted to provide schools with more flexibility with the funding they receive from the state. The legislation created additional uses for restricted funding and allows unspent funding from each year to transfer to a flex spending account with a wide array of uses. ^[9]

Elections/Voting

During the 2017 legislative session, Rizer voted^[10] to shorten both the amount of time one may cast an absentee ballot and the number of days one can vote at satellite polling sites,^[11] and he voted to require all voters to present a state-issued ID.^[12] The bill was supported by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and opposed by the Iowa State Association of Counties, an advocacy group for Iowa's disabled, and Iowa's Department on Aging opposed the bill.^[13]

Rizer also voted to move school board elections to the same date as municipal elections in November to increase voter turnout and reduce election costs.^[14]

Electoral history

* = incumbent

References