Since taking his first oath of office in 1996, Andre Bauer’s mission was and continues to be to protect South Carolina’s taxpayers, especially our senior citizens. It’s a mission inspired by the impact his grandparents had on him while growing up in Charleston. He was inaugurated in 2003 as South Carolina’s 87th lieutenant governor, making history as one of the youngest lieutenant governors in the United States at age 33. And for two consecutive terms through 2011, Bauer lobbied the General Assembly to restructure South Carolina’s Older Americans Act programs by transferring the Bureau of Senior Services from the Department of Health & Human Services to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging (LGOA) in 2004. He oversaw the $35 million LGOA, an agency representing the state’s 750,000 senior citizens, and testified before Congress on the condition of Aging and the Older Americans Act.
Andre was the past chairman of the Republican Lt. governors association. Bauer has served as an advocate for our elder citizens of South Carolina during his tenure, both in his role as lieutenant governor and as chairman of the Palmetto Tomorrow Foundation, a nonprofit for which he organizes projects for Senior Citizens and recognizes elders who have made significant contributions to our state and country through the Palmetto Patriot program. In 2012, the former Lt. Governor was honored for his mission by the Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commission with a ceremony that named its senior center in Batesburg, Leesville, S.C., the Andre Bauer Senior Center. South Carolina’s aging population over age 60 only continues to grow, and Andre Bauer knows how important it is not to neglect resources and communities, like these senior centers, to meet their needs. While he was in office, numerous senior centers were built, expanded or renovated throughout the state. It’s integral to the future faces and families here in the state.