| Indiana House of Representatives- 1996 - present
House District 37- Carmel/Clay Township from Ditch Road east to the White River, bounded to the south by 96th Street and on the north by 146th Street.
Committees-
Judiciary (Chair)
Rules and Legislative Procedures (Vice Chair)
Joint Rules (Vice Chair)
Elections and Apportionment
Employment, Labor and Pensions
Education-
Attended Hanover College
Graduated from Musicians Institute, Hollywood, CA
Occupation-
Vice President of Business Development at Near North Title in Carmel
State Representative Jerry Torr is a sixth generation Hoosier. He grew up on a family farm in the heart of Putnam County and was a 10-year 4-H'er. In 1987, he moved to Carmel where he currently resides. He became the state representative for House District39 in 1996.
During the 2005 legislative session, Rep. Torr authored the Daylight Savings Time (DST) bill that called for Indiana to finally observe DST. DST has been instrumental in job creation for the Hoosier state.
In 2005, Rep. Torr also authored the Health Insurance Waiver Act, allowing health insurers to issue polices to individuals who would otherwise be denied coverage due to one or two minor pre-existing conditions. Since the act became public law, countless Hoosier consumers have benefited.
Rep. Torr has been the leading force in pursuing legislation that would eliminate the unfair practice of gerrymandering in Indiana. Redistricting is done every 10 years by the party in majority that year. This tends to lead to gerrymandering that ensures that majority incumbents are re-elected. He has proposed legislation that would create a bipartisan commission (consisting of both Republicans and Democrats) to draw new Indiana House and Senate districts. A bi-partisan commission would help to ensure that districts are drawn in the interest of constituents rather than in the interest of political parties and incumbent legislators.
Rep. Torr believes no Hoosier worker should be forced to join a labor union against his or her will as a condition of employment. In the 2012 legislative session, he championed House Bill 1001, Employee's Right to Work that was signed into law by the governor in Feb. 2012. Besides being a simple matter fairness, economic development experts believe that a "Right to Work" law would bring many new jobs to Indiana.
Before joining Hamilton National Title in 2014, Rep. Torr was a Client Executive at the Hylant Group, and prior to that a Commercial Casualty General Adjuster with FCCI Insurance Company in Carmel. He was previously a member of the Central Indiana Claims Association and the National Society of Professional Insurance Investors. He also previously served on the board of the Indiana Forum for Fair Liability Laws. In 1995, the forum was instrumental in the passage of a compressive Tort Reform Act. In addition, Rep. Torr formerly served as the Director of the President of the State Adjuster's Association.
Rep. Torr attended Hanover College where he studied music, philosophy and physics, among other things. He graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA in 1978 after studying guitar performance, music composition, arranging, orchestration and film scoring.
He is currently a member of the OneZone, which is the combined Carmel and Fishers Chambers of Commerce. He is a former Precinct Committeeman and has been a delegate to numerous Republican State Conventions. Rep. Torr has served on the board of directors of the National MS Society Indiana Chapter, Indiana Humanities, and Carmel Symphony Orchestra. In October of 2017, Rep. Torr conducted his original composition, Fanfare for a New Era, which was performed by the Carmel Symphony Orchestra at the Palladium in Carmel.
Rep. Torr has been honored twice as Government Leader of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce at its annual awards dinner, first in 2005 and again in 2012. The only other two time winners are House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senator Richard Lugar. |