Jack Whitver

Personal life and education

Jack Whitver was born in Knoxville, Iowa and raised in Grinnell, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University, where he graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in Exercise Science. Whitver also earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Iowa State in 2003. In 2012, Jack graduated from Drake University Law School with High Honors. While at Iowa State, he was a three year starter at Wide Receiver on the Iowa State Cyclones football team. He earned a scholarship after joining the team as a walk-on in 1999. Whitver finished his career in the top ten in both receptions and receiving yards for the Cyclones. He was a member of three bowl teams: 2000 Insight Bowl, 2001 Independence Bowl, and 2002 Humanitarian Bowl.

Career

Jack founded Acceleration Iowa in 2004 with business partner Geoff Jensen. They added new locations in 2007 and 2009. Acceleration Iowa is a sports training business, which develops speed, quickness and overall athletic ability for young athletes. In 2012, Jack bought CrossFit Des Moines and CrossFit Waukee and opened North Ankeny CrossFit. Jack was an assistant coach (wide receivers and offensive coordinator) for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League from 2008 to 2011.

Jack was elected to the Iowa State Senate from District 35 on January 18, 2011 in a special election. District 35 covered Ankeny, Johnston, Grimes, Polk City and the entire northern part of Polk County. He defeated John Calhoun by a margin of 63%-37%. After the redistricting of 2012, Jack now represents District 19 in the State Senate, which covers Ankeny, Alleman, Saylor Township, and a small part of Des Moines.

Jack was sworn into the Iowa Senate on January 24, 2011 and was named to the Judiciary, Economic Growth and Human Resource committees. In 2013 Jack was named Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee as well as serving on the Economic Growth, Ethics, Human Resource, Judiciary and State Government committees.

Voting accessibility

During the 2017 legislative session, Whitver voted 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, and he voted to require all voters to present a state-issued ID. Though he voted for the measure, the bill was opposed by the Iowa State Association of Counties, an advocacy group for Iowa's disabled, and Iowa's Department on Aging opposed the bill.

Workers' rights

During the 2017 legislative session, Guth voted for House File 295 which eliminates local control in municipalities that voted to increase their own minimum wage locally. Whitver's vote will cause the minimum wage to be lowered in four counties which had already voted to raise their minimum wage (Johnson, Linn, Wapello, and Polk). Estimates show that at least 64,300 residents of Iowa will have their wages effectively lowered, including 35,800 to 36,000 in Polk County, 10,100 in Johnson County, and 18,400 in Linn County.

Healthcare

Whitver voted in support of House File 625, which eliminated the requirement that parents report on their state taxes whether or not they have healthcare for their children. In this bill, Whitver also voted to eliminate the requirement that parents apply for publicly funded healthcare coverage, such as Hawk-i or Medicaid, for their children, if they are not covered.

Immigration

Whitver voted for an amended form of Senate File 481. This bill eliminated elements of local control by requiring a local officer to comply and detain an immigrant who is guilty of three misdemeanors, non-violent felonies, and felonies until ICE arrives. This bill was opposed by a number of organizations in Iowa, including the Iowa Police Chief Association, the Iowa Catholic Conference, the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, the Iowa Coalition against Sexual Assault, and the Iowa State Bar Association.