Political Life In 2000, he was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket and was reelected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008. He is Chairman of the House Human Resources Committee,  and sits on the Environmental Protection and Judiciary Committees. He serves on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, which has oversight of the budget for the Iowa Veterans Home.

Personal Life Mark D. Smith was born in Osceola, Iowa on January 5, 1952, and is the son of R. Eugene and Betty Danner Smith. His family lived on a farm near Osceola until moving to Winterset, where Mark graduated in 1970 and received the William and Mary Krabel College Scholarship. Mark attends Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), where he teaches Sunday School to adults with special needs. Mark was the treasurer of the Friends of the Marshalltown Public Library, a nonprofit organization that has raised thousands of dollars to improve library services. He was a member of the Marshall County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Advisory Board and served as the 1999 Chair. He serves on the National Conference State Legislature's standing committee on health and the conference's advisory committee on addictions. Mark is an avid bicyclist who has ridden numerous RAGBRAIs and bicycle treks in other states. He is a member of the Marshalltown Morning Optimists and was club president in 2004. Mark and his wife, Karen Lischer, have been married for 24 years. They have a daughter, Allison, who attends the University of Northern Iowa.

Professional Life After graduation, Mark worked in a special nutritional and recreational program for children through Iowa State Extension Services. This led him to study social work, first at Graceland College (BA, 1974 cum laude) and then the University of Iowa (MSW, 1986).  Mark is employed by the Substance Abuse Treatment Unit of Central Iowa (SATUCI) as the Director of Special Projects.  He specializes in treating people with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.  He has also served as an adjunct instructor of Social Work for the University of Iowa. Mark has spent his entire career helping people. He has worked with children and their families, treated people with substance use disorders, directed services to people with mentally illnesses, and reviewed nursing home care for the elderly. Mark was among the first to provide early mental health counseling to children through the schools. Mark is often called on to train counselors, foster parents, substance abuse counselors, and social workers. He counsels fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical personnel who have been on the scene of traumatic accidents. Mark is a mental health technician with the American Red Cross and served at the World Trade Center in the fall of 2001, following the attack on America.  He also works as a divorce mediator, helping couples work through their disputes. He has received numerous awards for his work and served on the Iowa Board of Social Work Examiners from 1999 to 2001.  In June 2006, he was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Social Workers.  For several years, he has written articles for the mental health specialty within the social work profession and had an article published in the Winter, 2005, edition of Iowa Heritage Illustrated.