Editing Tom Vilsack (section)

==Mayor of Mount Pleasant & Iowa Senate==
Vilsack moved to [[Mount Pleasant, Iowa]] after marriage. Vilsack raised funds to rebuild an athletic facility for young people; in a 2016 interview, he describes himself "as the [[Jerry Lewis]] of Mount Pleasant for a couple days" when he hosted a pledge drive on the local radio station to raise the funds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://podcasts.cnn.net/epvs/v2/11/5/1929/axe.7842d2e4.1-1.mp3?mtp=a&dvc=f |title=Interview with Tom Vilsack by David Axelrod on The Axe Files podcast, August 15, 2016 |access-date=August 16, 2016 |archive-date=January 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111175833/http://podcasts.cnn.net/epvs/v2/11/5/1929/axe.7842d2e4.1-1.mp3?mtp=a&dvc=f |url-status=live }}</ref> This led him to involvement in the local [[Chamber of Commerce]] and [[United Way]]. He and his wife volunteered in the failed 1988 presidential campaign of then senator [[Joe Biden]].

After the mayor of Mount Pleasant was gunned down in December 1986, Vilsack led a fundraising drive to build a memorial fountain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehawkeye.com/news/local/years-after-mayor-s-death-edd-king-fountain-to-be/article_32924fc8-393f-528b-8b9d-67b7b58d5c58.html|title=30 years after mayor's death, Edd King Fountain to be rededicated Saturday|first=Elizabeth|last=Meyer|date=July 12, 2016|website=[[The Hawk Eye]]|access-date=May 21, 2017}}</ref> The deceased mayor's father asked Vilsack to run for mayor of Mount Pleasant; he was elected and began serving in 1987.<ref name="biography">{{cite news|last=Okamoto|first=Lynn|date=October 15, 2009|title=Vilsack biography|work=[[Des Moines Register]]|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS09/40702012|url-status=dead|access-date=October 14, 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724010946/http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS09/40702012|archive-date=July 24, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> 

Vilsack was elected to the [[Iowa Senate]] in 1992.<ref name="biography"/> Following his election, he worked on legislation requiring companies who received state tax incentives to provide better pay and benefits. He helped pass a law for workers to receive health coverage when changing jobs and helped redesign Iowa's Workforce Development Department. He also wrote a bill to have the State of Iowa assume a 50% share of local county [[mental health]] costs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iowa Law Mandates Mental Health Coverage {{!}} PLANSPONSOR |url=https://www.plansponsor.com/iowa-law-mandates-mental-health-coverage/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=www.plansponsor.com}}</ref>