JOCHUM, Thomas J.

JOCHUM, Thomas J. (Dubuque, IA, Dec. 25, 1951--). Member, Iowa House of Representatives. In November 23, 1974, Jochum, at the age of 22, won a House special election to the Iowa Legislature. He won his first re-election to the House District 19 on November 2, 1976. In January 1975, Jochum was appointed to the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy Committee. In 1982 he became chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Jochum sponsored many bills in the Iowa House. In March 1975 he proposed legislation that would prohibit employers from requiring applicants to submit to lie-detector tests. The following month, he sponsored a bill establishing minimum standards for migrant workers' camps. Following his election in 1976 he attacked the Iowa Development Commission for the distribution of a brochure showing Iowa's racial make-up. In March 1982 Jochum sponsored a bill for the reinstatement of an unemployed parents' program. In March 1983 Governor Terry Barnstad signed a Jochum-sponsored bill outlawing zoning discrimination against group homes for the mentally disabled. On February 9, 1989 he sponsored a Hate Crimes Bill targeted at cross-burnings. The same month he sponsored a bill to provide health care for all Iowans. A Gay-Rights Bill, sponsored by Jochum, passed the Iowa House on March 30, 1989.

In 1990 Jochum, representing District 36, won his ninth re-election campaign to the Iowa House. He, however, lost the race to succeed Don Avenson as Speaker of the House by three votes. He remained chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

In 1991 Jochum announced that he was the new executive director of the Iowa Association for Retarded Citizens. He did not seek re-election when his current term expired in 1992.