Jack Hatch was elected in 2010 to his third term in the Iowa Senate. He represents central and south Des Moines, which includes some of the highest and lowest income families in the state.
Jack served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1985 to 1993. In 1993, he accepted the position of State Director with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin. He returned to the Iowa House after winning election in November of 2000.
Senator Hatch is chair of the Human Services Budget Subcommittee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Commerce, Economic Growth, Human Resources and Labor & Business Relations committees.
Jack is committed to affordable, quality health care for all Iowans. Since 2007, he has led the Legislature’s comprehensive health care reform effort, including a commitment to health care coverage for all Iowa children by 2011. As a result, Iowa should have the highest percentage of children covered of any state in the county. He has also helped create the Community Health Center Incubator Program and the Iowa Collaborative Safety Net Provider Network.
In June of 2009, Jack was appointed chair of the White House Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform. In that capacity, he has led state legislators who are health reform experts from around the country in advising the President on national proposals for health reform.
 9/24/09: Senator Hatch appeared on IPTV’s Iowa Journal to discuss health care reform. |
Read more about Senator Hatch’s work for health reform here.
Jack has received several awards for his work in championing children’s issues. In 2005, Orchard Place, a statewide child and family counseling agency, and the Coalition for Family & Children’s Services in Iowa both awarded Jack the Outstanding Legislator Award for his work on child welfare initiatives.
For his involvement in health care, the Iowa-Nebraska Primary Care Association recognized Jack as the Underserved Champion of the Year in 2005. For his work with the assisted living’ industry, he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Iowa Health Care Association in 2005 and in 2006. In January 2007, he was awarded the “Outstanding Leadership Award” by the Polk County Medical Society.
In 2008, Jack received several recognitions for his work on health care. These include the Iowa Academy for Family Physicians’ Leadership Award and the Iowa Health Care for All (SEIU) leadership award. In 2009, Jack was honored with the Iowa Dental Association Leadership Award, the Presidential Leadership Award from the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association, and the Public Health Official of the Year Award from the Iowa Public Health Association.
In 2003, he received the ‘Community Spirit Award’ from the Business Record publication. In 2003, he was awarded the Friends of Youth Award from the Youth Homes of Mid America, and in 2003 and 2005, the Protector of Children Award from Coalition for Family & Children’s Services in Iowa for his work to prevent child welfare budget cuts.
Jack graduated from Drake University in 1972 with a BA degree and in 1973 with a Masters in Public Administration. In 1997, Jack founded the Hatch Development Group, a real estate development firm. In 2008, HDG expanded to Cedar Rapids.
He and his wife, Sonja Roberts who is president of Perennial Properties Management Services, live in historic Sherman Hill Neighborhood of Des Moines. They have two daughters, Regan Simpson who is employed at Wells Fargo and Caslon Hatch, just graduated from Columbia College in Chicago and is now a TV Reporter for KTUU, an NBC affiliate, in Anchorage, AK.