You would think most members of the military preparing to ship out for active duty would spend their final night or two relaxing with family or packing a bag. But not state Rep. Joe Rice, an Army colonel headed for Iraq this week.
On the eve of his next tour of duty, the Littleton Democrat is hosting a fundraiser in support his 2010 re-election bid to the state House. The timing is complicated. Under state law, sitting legislators are prohibited from hosting fundraisers during the legislative session, which ended last week. Under federal law, meanwhile, candidates can't fundraise if they are on active military duty overseas. Thus, Rice only has a handful of days to stash some cash for his next political race.
While on active duty, Rice told Face The State he will be "allowed to work on policy issues, but I can’t work on politics."
Since Rice will be gone for a still unknown amount of time, the jump-start on fundraising is probably not a bad idea. He was recently overheard at the Capitol saying he's worried that his seat is vulnerable in 2010 and attributed his victory last year in part to what he called the “Obama bump.”
Rice said he is glad he won’t have to work on campaigning while deployed, and he plans to begin thinking about possible legislation for next session. This year, he was a lead backer of the session’s major transportation bill, dubbed "FASTER," which saw passionate debate surround its hefty fee increases for vehicle registration.
Rice says he doesn’t know exactly when he’ll be back, but that it will be before the 2010 legislative session.