Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
CARR, Robert M.
CARR, Robert M. (Bernard, IA, May 9, 1937- ). State senator and Dubuque County Treasurer. On May 23, 1989, the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors selected Carr from a field of four candidates to fill out the unexpired term of Tom Breitbach who retired in June. He resigned his office in the Iowa Senate and was appointed Dubuque County Treasurer.
Carr, elected for one term as a state representative, served as chair of the Transportation and Law Enforcement Budget Committee, chair of the Human Resources Committee, and a member of the Correction and Mental Health Budget Subcommittee during his service in the state capital. Elected to the Senate, Carr chaired the State Government Committee that spearheaded a massive reorganization bill. Passed in 1986, the legislation resulted in sixty-eight state agencies and departments being reduced to twenty-eight.
Among Carr's legislative victories were obtaining $1.7 million in state money to construct a water treatment plant in Dubuque, bringing Northeast Iowa Technical Institute to Peosta, rewriting the state criminal code, and creating a bill of rights for the mentally handicapped.