Scott Douglas Pelath (born July 9, 1970) was the Minority Leader of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

. From 1998 to 2018 he represented Indiana's 9th District, which currently covers portions of LaPorte County and Porter County in Northwest

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Upon his retirement from the Indiana legislature, Pelath became Executive Director of the Kankakee River Basin and Yellow River Basin Development Commission.

Early life and education

Pelath was born and raised in

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west o ...

, to Richard Pelath and Rebecca (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Hoerr) Pelath. After attending Long Beach Elementary and Krueger Junior High, he graduated from Michigan City Elston High School in 1988. He then went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in public affairs from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1992.

Career

Prior to coming to the Indiana House, Scott served as an aide to U.S. Rep.

Tim Roemer Timothy John Roemer (born October 30, 1956) is an American diplomat and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003 as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Indiana's 3rd congressional district ...

from 1992 to 1997. He also chaired LaPorte County's Democratic Party through the 2000 election, and was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

that year and in 2016. Pelath served as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. He is a graduate of the Indiana University

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program and the Armor Officer Basic Course at

Fort Knox, Kentucky Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

. From 1999 to 2019, Pelath worked as a human resources director at the Swanson Center in Michigan City. Following his retirement from the Indiana General Assembly, he became Executive Director of the Kankakee River Basin and Yellow River Basin Development Commission. The commission, which serves eight Northwest Indiana counties, seeks to reverse mounting water resource dilemmas related to the draining of the Grand Kankakee Marsh over a century ago.

State House

Pelath was elected as a Democrat to the State House in 1998 and on November 8, 2012, Representative Pelath was elected Indiana House Democratic Leader. He replaced Linda Lawson. Pelath formerly held legislative positions of Assistant Minority Leader, Vice-Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Chairman of the House Rules Committee. On November 19, 2017, Pelath announced that he would resign as Minority Leader and would not run for reelection in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. He was replaced by Terry Goodin as Minority Leader. Among scores of legislative enactments, Pelath was the Indiana House sponsor of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, which is now law in eight Great Lakes States and two Canadian provinces. He also coauthored an expansion of the South Shore commuter rail line prior to his legislative retirement.

External links

Indiana State Legislature – Representative Scott Pelath
Official government website *''Follow the Money'' – Scott Douglas Pelath
20062004200220001998
campaign contributions *Kankakee River Basin and Yellow River Basin Development Commissio

*Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resource
Compact

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelath, Scott 1970 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Indiana General Assembly