Rhoades announces retirement from Assembly

Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, will announce Friday that she is retiring from the Wisconsin Assembly.

She informed supporters in a March 17 letter.

Rhoades, 58, has represented the 30th Assembly District for 12 years. Her current two-year term ends Dec. 31. She said she intends to fill out the term.

“Our lives come in phases, and it's time to move on to the next phase now," said Rhoades in a phone interview this morning. She said she is announcing now to give potential candidates time to weigh their options before the election filing period opens in June.

"In my six terms in office, I have been part of a number of great accomplishments," Rhoades wrote. She was the first Republican Assembly woman to serve as co-chair of the Legislature's budget-writing panel, Joint Committee on Finance.

During that session Joint Finance "successfully approved a budget that stopped over $15 billion in tax increases while leaving the state with the lowest deficit in the past 12 years," Rhoades said.

Rhoades also helped pass legislation to make it harder to get materials to manufacture methamphetamine. She said that law served as a model for subsequent federal legislation.

“Twelve years ago, I told you I didn't set out to become an elected official -- my life led me there," said Rhoades. "Now the time has come for my life to lead me on to a new phase."

Tags: pierce county, news, wisconsin, assembly, politics