William Anthony "Bill" Dotzler Jr. (born May 7, 1948) is the Iowa State Senator from the 31st District. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he has served in the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

since 2003 and previously served as assistant

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

Early life and education

Dotzler went to

Cedar Falls High School Cedar Falls High School is a high school located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It is a part of Cedar Falls Community School District. The school principal is Jason Wedgebury. The associate principals are Rafael Benítez and Lindsay Spears. All three are ...

graduating in 1966. He then received his A.A. from

North Iowa Area Community College North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) is a public community college in Mason City, Iowa. History NIACC began as Mason City Junior College in 1918, becoming the first public two-year college in Iowa. The college was located in the high school ...

in 1969. Dotzler then served in the United States Army Office of Military Intelligence for three years, serving one tour in Germany. Upon returning, Dotzler enrolled in the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Biology in 1975.

Iowa House and Senate

Dotzler had previously been a member of the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

, representing the 26th District from 1997 to 2003, and then was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2003, succeeding John Jensen. Dotzler was re-elected in 2006 with 11,782 votes (70%), defeating

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent Jim Buschkamp

In 2007, Dotzler was instrumental in helping to pass tax incentives aimed at technology companies such as

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and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

to build a facility in Iowa and invest millions of dollars in the state. The legislation gave companies tax breaks on sales tax from utility bills and property tax breaks

Dotzler was re-elected in 2010 with 10,459 votes (59%), defeating

opponent Ron Welper

More recently, Dotzler has gone on record opposing the construction of new nuclear power plants in Iowa citing cost and safety concerns

Dotzler currently serves on several committees in the Iowa Senate - the Appropriations committee; the Economic Growth committee; the Human Resources committee; the Labor and Business Relations committee, and the Ways and Means committee. He also serves as chair of the Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.

References

External links

Senator William A. Dotzler Jr.
''official Iowa Legislature site''
Senator William A. Dotzler Jr.
''official Iowa General Assembly site''
State Senator Bill Dotzler
''official constituency site'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dotzler, William Living people Democratic Party Iowa state senators Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives University of Northern Iowa alumni Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Politicians from Waterloo, Iowa 1948 births 21st-century American legislators