Baird, Bray headed back to Statehouse, Clark to join them

Baird said by running unopposed he was able to get out and meet with more constituents and property taxes was a constant theme that he heard.

It was a forgone conclusion that Beau Baird would be headed back to the Indiana House of Representatives as the Greencastle Republican had no opposition in the General Election Tuesday. 

Baird, who represents House District 44 received all of the 13,294 votes that were cast in the race. 

With the victory in hand, Baird is focused on heading back to Statehouse and looking to do work for his constituents, especially when it comes to property tax reform during a budget session. 

"Property taxes is definitely something I am hearing a lot about," Baird told GIANT fm WREB and The Putnam County Post. 

Baird said by running unopposed he was able to get out and meet with more constituents and property taxes was a constant theme that he heard.

"Property taxes are at the forefront. Property tax caps came in before I was in the Statehouse, so I have been using my time to dive into that, and figure out the disparity. I had one constituent who saw an increase of a couple hundred dollars and another who owns an apartment complex here in town who had his double. I am trying to figure out how and why this is happening and what we can do to fix it and it is a large amount of my time right now. I also serve as Vice Chair of the House Ag Committee and I have been meeting with farmers and trying to figure out what their priorities are. I also serve on Ways and Means and with this being a budget year and the shortfall for FSSA of a million dollars, it will be a very challenging year. A lot of my time will be dedicated to maintaining a balanced budget and the services that we provide in Indiana," Baird said. 

In addition to property taxes, Baird said he has also heard about broadband internet, 

"I get a little fatigued from that because I've lived it. We just got DSL three or four years ago at the family farm and that is so far behind where it should be. Something I have been hearing about this year is SBOA and SBOA audits. One of our conservatories west of town had their audit double. You are talking not a lot of land owners and their budget is $20,000 and their audit came back at $5,000. You have a state agency like SBOA sending them an audit bill like that is not right, and I have requested a meeting with SBOA. Area 30 told me their audit also doubled, as did the audits of our trustees. This is a state agency billing our local entities and passing the burden to a smaller demographic," Baird said. 

Baird said he welcomes the opportunity to work with Governor elect Mike Braun in January.  

"He has a great working relationship with the general assembly. He served with a large percentage of them in the past and I am excited to work with him. I cannot speak for him, but from my experience with him, I think there will be a push for more efficient government and he will push for a more Mitch Daniels like, lean, efficient government and business like," Baird said. 

Senate Races go Republican

A pair of Republicans won Statehouse seats, as incumbent Rod Bray held onto his seat in Senate District 37, while Brett Clark will take over Senate District 24, replacing John Crane, who decided not to run again. 

Bray defeated Democratic challenger Kimberly Schoefield by a margin of 3,646 votes to 825 or 81.55 percent to 18.45 percent. 

In Senate District 24, Clark defeated former Greencastle City Councilor Veronica Pejril by a margin of 8,880 to 2,833 or 75.81 percent to 24.19 percent.