He was then elected to four consecutive terms on the Iowa House of Representatives for District 73.
In his final term as a state legislator, Burma's colleagues elected him house speaker.
Burma contested the Republican primary for the 1944 Iowa gubernatorial election, losing to Robert D. Blue.
Subsequently, Burma was named to the Iowa Board of Control from 1944 to 1954, then worked as a juvenile probation officer for the counties of Hancock, Mitchell, Winnebago, and Worth from 1954 until 1967.
The couple raised a son and daughter, Charles Henry and Marjorie.