Indiana General Assembly honors Bauer in farewell resolution

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend), the longest-serving member of the Indiana House of Representatives and one of the country’s longest-serving state legislators, was honored today on the House floor by his fellow representatives.

Bauer has spent 50 years in the Indiana General Assembly, serving six years as Speaker of the House, four years as Minority Leader and 12 years as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Bauer was instrumental in the passage of nearly every landmark piece of legislation in Indiana over the past several decades. As one of the state’s leading fiscal experts, he championed generational reforms of our tax system that resulted in huge savings for homeowners, cuts in auto excise taxes and the implementation of our state’s earned income tax credit.

Helping Hoosier families, especially those in St. Joseph County, was at the forefront of measures he advanced throughout his career. He led efforts to enact Indiana’s early education and pre-k programs; fought for improved access to quality health care with the Healthy Indiana Plan and lowered prescription drug costs through HoosierRx; and helped direct millions of dollars in economic development that created thousands of good-paying jobs.

Bauer also authored two bills that were the first of their kind in the nation to be adopted. One was a statewide ban on phosphates in detergents, while the other banned personal care products from containing microbeads. Both have improved Indiana’s environmental safety standards and became model legislation for other states.

During his tenure, he has received numerous awards and honors from organizations across Indiana. Most recently, he received the Legislative Excellence Award from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council for leading efforts to enact a bill that made it legal to collect DNA samples from felony arrestees to enable law enforcement to use DNA as a means to save lives and put dangerous criminals behind bars.

“It has been an honor to serve the people of St. Joseph County in the state legislature,” Bauer said. “What I will clearly miss the most is the interaction with all of the local residents who have been so kind and helpful through the years. By working together, I truly believe we have made St. Joseph County, and Indiana, a better place to live.”

In addition to serving as a state representative, Bauer worked for the South Bend Community School Corporation for 33 years, spending time as an English teacher and as an administrator. He later served as a statewide administrator for Ivy Tech Community College.

After leaving the General Assembly, Bauer plans to spend more time with family, which includes his wife, Karen, and their four grandsons.