In this episode of Backroads and Backstories, Senator Paul Bailey talks with the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Justin P. Wilson. He shares his vast knowledge of Tennessee history and his experience as the state’s 34th comptroller.

Guests:

• Justin P. Wilson, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury – https://comptroller.tn.gov/about-us/meet-the-comptroller-of-the-treasury.html

Transcript

Announcer: For the politics of Nashville, to the history of the Upper Cumberland, this is the Backroads and Backstories podcast, with Senator Paul Bailey.

 

Sen. Bailey: Welcome back to the podcast. I’m your host, Senator Paul Bailey. In today’s episode, we have our beloved Comptroller of the Tennessee Treasury. He’s the 34th comptroller, Mr. Justin P. Wilson.

 

Mr. Wilson: I am pleased to be here.

 

Sen. Bailey: Well, thank you so much. I am so happy that you joined us on the podcast today. You are a treasure trove of Tennessee history, and we just want you to share with our listeners today some of the vast knowledge that you have about Tennessee history and about the state of Tennessee. But before we dive into all of that, we want to hear a little bit more about you and where you grew up at, where you went to college, and I understand you spent some time in New York City. So, if you would, let’s start out talking a little bit about your beginning.

 

Mr. Wilson: There was a war going on when I was born. So, I was born in California. I moved from California when I was four months old, and came back to Nashville where I’ve lived, except with the very brief time in New York, in Nashville for 75 years. Grew up in suburbs of Na—in fact, I’ve spent almost my entire life, not only professionally, but also where I lived within five miles of right here at the state capitol.

 

Sen. Bailey: Oh, very interesting. Now, did you attend school here in Nashville?

 

Mr. Wilson: I went to the public schools and elementary schools here in Nashville. The schools burned down. And then I went to school in Virginia, for high school, went to Stanford University for college out in California, with a short period at the University of Florence in Italy, went to Vanderbilt law school where I graduated and also have a master’s in tax from NYU in New York City.

 

Sen. Bailey: Oh, very good. So, now after completing your school in New York City, did you remain there for a period of time?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, what I did is, my last year in law school at Vanderbilt, I saw that salaries in Nashville were about $7,000 a year, and one law firm in New York, they changed the going rate for starting lawyers from $10,200 to $15,000. Six law firms decided to pay that amount. And I applied to all six and I took the first offer that I got; it paid $15,000.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Now, do you care to tell us which law firm that was?

 

Mr. Wilson: The law firm was Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine. It’s gone out of business. It was run by a bunch of spies. “Wild Bill” Donovan was a founding partner, and I worked, as a young associate, for two members of the OSS.

 

Sen. Bailey: Oh, very good. And I think at some point in time was Richard Nixon a part of that law firm?

 

Mr. Wilson: No, that was a different law firm. One of the six law firms was Mudge Rose. And that was the law firm that Richard Nixon was a partner. I didn’t work for them, quite frankly because they wrote me my acceptance letter after I’d already accepted the first offer I got. [laugh]. 

One of the things in that interview was fascinating is that John Mitchell, who was Attorney General, talking to him, one of the advice he said, which he used when he was Attorney General is, “Don’t volunteer information.”

 

Sen. Bailey: “Don’t volunteer inform—” Have you held true to that?

 

Mr. Wilson: Unfortunately, not as much as I should.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. So, you left New York City, and you came back to Nashville.

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s right. And I’ve been here ever since.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, did you come back and practice law?

 

Mr. Wilson: I practiced law at a law firm here in Nashville. I’ve worked with that law firm and for the state of Tennessee, been in my career, one of the two.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, how many years did you practice law, and when did you basically enter the political world?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I think I’ve been in and out of the political world for my entire life. But for employment, I worked for a law firm—I went there in ’74 until 1996 where I became Commissioner of Environment, state of Tennessee, and then for the Sundquist administration where I was later deputy governor for policy. When Sundquist left office out, went back to the law firm, 2003. Just stayed there until 2009, was I was elected comptroller.

 

Sen. Bailey: I also understand that your family has had a long history as far as helping Republican candidates. I understand your father was a finance chair. Was that for the RNC, or…

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, he was for the state party as well as for the RNC. He was the national finance chair, and he came in right after Watergate. And he’s probably the one responsible, more than anyone else, or direct mail because in those days—well, when he first came in, of course, there was big fat cat contributors, politics. Well, of course, Watergate came along, and the fat cats disappeared from contributing. And so in order to fund the party, he started direct mail in a major way. So, he’s the bad guy responsible for that.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. For the direct mail pieces. 

 

Mr. Wilson: Yeah.

 

Sen. Bailey: Now, another rumor is that Ted Welch actually got his little black book, if you will, of all of the finance donors in the state of Tennessee and across the US, and was basically able to springboard himself into becoming the financial guru for a lot of Republican candidates in the state of Tennessee.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, that’s true. Ted—and such with Joe Rogers. And I worked with them both, as well as my father. My father, of course, probably trained Joe. But I worked with both of them. And in fact, Joe Rogers, and I really did the finance work for Sundquist’s first race.

 

Sen. Bailey: Oh, very good. So, you mentioned that, I guess, your first foray into holding a public office, if you will, or an appointed office was in 1996?

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s correct. I was Commissioner of Environment at that time. When Sundquist was elected, he asked me to be his general counsel, and I said, I really didn’t want to work for the government. And then he called me up. 

And I told him I went—he asked me to come over his office, this was on a Thursday. And I said, “Governor, I told you I didn’t really want to go work for the government. I’m happy with my law practice.” He said, “Well, it’s just for nine months because I’ve got to fill this position until a senator can take it.” Because a senator cannot work for the executive branch during his term of office. 

So, I went back to the law firm, talked to them, and they said, “Well, environmental work is really improving right now. It’s really a big marketing thing, and it’d be great for your law practice to be commissioner.” And so I called back and talked to, I believe the then deputy-governor, said, “Yeah, I can do it for nine months.” And then [laugh] he told me, “Well, you’re going to start on Sunday.”

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, I’m assuming that it was a pretty big pay cut in those days—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well—

 

Sen. Bailey: —to move from your law practice over to being Commissioner. 

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I make more money in private practice than I did working for the government. 

 

Sen. Bailey: So, you served, how long actually as Commissioner because eventually you were elevated again.

 

Mr. Wilson: A little over a year as Commissioner. And then I became Deputy Governor for Policy.

 

Sen. Bailey: Very good. Very good. So, I’m assuming from there, you just really began to love being a part of Tennessee government and trying to improve Tennessee?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, let me tell you, is that everybody talks about state employees and stuff like this, but it is fascinating; it is a wonderful career. I can not speak enough about real opportunity and challenges you have.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, the first time that I remember meeting you, we were in Sparta, Tennessee, where I’m from, and you came there on behalf of Governor Don Sundquist, and he was actually promoting a state income tax at that time. And so the Chamber of Commerce and other business people had gathered, actually at a really nice restaurant that we had at the time. And you were the guest, and you were talking about Governor Sundquist’s new policy initiative that he had rolled out. I’m sure you don’t remember meeting me there, but that was the first time that I remember meeting Justin P. Wilson. And you were talking about the need for a state income tax, or the policy that Governor Sundquist was pushing for at the time.

 

Mr. Wilson: I was very clear, I was presenting the governor’s policy, and I hope I did a good job doing that.

 

Sen. Bailey: Well, I think you did. I think there were a lot of hearts and minds changed that day in that room. I remember one particular businessman saying, “Mr. Wilson, do you really think that we need this?” 

And your response gave this gentleman some peace of mind before we broke up and left that day. So, I’ve always known who you were from that day going forward. But it’s amazing how we have tidbits of our own history that we can remember. And that was the first time that I remember meeting you. And so did you remain with the Sundquist administration all the way to the end?

 

Mr. Wilson: Until the end.

 

Sen. Bailey: And so then, after the Sundquist administration, you went back to private practice? 

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s correct. 

 

Sen. Bailey: Okay. And then from there, you… I guess, the legislature changed and the Republicans took over the majority of both the House and the Senate which gave the ability to choose a new comptroller, a new treasurer, and a new secretary of state, and you sought the office of comptroller?

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s correct. 

 

Sen. Bailey: And so the comptroller, and the treasurer is chosen every two years when the General Assembly reconvenes a new legislative session, but the secretary of state’s on a four-year term. You want to talk about changing that? You want us to change that? 

 

Mr. Wilson: No. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. So, that was in two thousand and—

 

Mr. Wilson: Nine.

 

Sen. Bailey: 2009. So, you have been comptroller. So, tell us a little bit about the responsibilities of the comptroller.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, the comptroller has enormous responsibilities. It goes basically, in simple language it is financial integrity of the state. And it goes in many ways to deal with those issues. And it seems like the General Assembly gives us all sorts of different new responsibilities every year. But it’s basically financial integrity.

 

Sen. Bailey: And you are affectionately known as the “Money cop.”

 

Mr. Wilson: That is correct. 

 

Sen. Bailey: And so you’re responsible for doing audits of all—

 

Mr. Wilson: We do all the counties and all the cities we’re responsible for. We contract some of that out, but we do mostly counties ourselves. We do every county in your district. And we review the budgets, we make sure that they’re positioned to pay their debts when they’re due, and we deal with fraud, waste, and abuse that may happen across the state.

 

Sen. Bailey: And by legislative authority, you actually have the ability to go into a city or a county, or other public entity and seize control to make sure that they are doing the—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, we have the ability, but that’s something we’re very, very reluctant to do, and we try every method we can to make sure there’s local control, that the governments run locally, not out Nashville.

 

Sen. Bailey: I understand that there was a city in East Tennessee that you had to—the Comptroller’s office had to take control of their finances, and my understanding that there was a lockbox rented at one of the local banks, and basically you would take the checkbook and lock it up, and then once every—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, it—

 

Sen. Bailey: —week or two, you’d go up and have to write checks or send someone to write checks to pay the bills.

 

Mr. Wilson: —that’s basically true, is that every Friday they sent a list of what bills they wanted to pay, and we’d approve them Monday morning, and not approve others.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, I can say as someone that spent some time in county government, that the Comptroller’s office is very needed in the state, basically making sure that each and every elected office is run efficiently in taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, and basically try to help our county governments stay on track and our city government stay on track as far as their spending is concerned.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, our mission is to make government work better. And local government is a major—of course, is a key to the state of Tennessee. And sometimes they need a little help. We try to give it to them.

 

Sen. Bailey: Just thinking over the last couple of years, especially, that you have really worked with several local governments, if you will, to basically try to get their spending under control, get their budgets working in a proper way so that the comptroller’s office doesn’t have to step in and basically take control.

 

Mr. Wilson: Fortunately, we were able to avoid taking control in three or four instances in the last two years, and we were able to get local governments really on much sounder footing.

 

Sen. Bailey: What do you think has been the biggest impact that you’ve made as far as comptroller?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I suppose that when I was elected comptroller, the office was a little bit adrift. And our mission is to make government work better; that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. Well, I bet that less than five people had any idea what our mission of the office was. And now I can assure you, everyone in the office knows that, exactly right. 

Our accomplishments, I guess, are primarily on the financial integrity of the state; that is, above anything else, the most important thing. And also the dealing with local governments for their financial integrity. And to give advice to the General Assembly and to the public more of a—to be a trusted adviser, to give them what we think is good policy, and have them look at it and see whether they agree with us or not.

 

Sen. Bailey: I think we have done that. With your help as comptroller, with the legislature, Tennessee has got a strong financial background, and we are certainly on good footing with all of our credit rating agencies, which I understand that you are part of the delegation that goes to New York each year to present our financial picture to the credit rating agencies.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, let me brag a little bit about the state of Tennessee—now that you brought this up—is that, according to US News and World Report, we are number one among the states for financial stability. There’s a magazine called Truth in Accounting, and we are ranked number five for financial health. And the reason why we’re number five instead of number one is just because of the size, that’s the only reason. Not due—the criteria. 

But doing business, we’re number two in the nation by area of development, we’re ranked eighth among the states of ALEC for economic outlook. Our pension fund is really sound; it’s exactly the way it should be done. David Lillard deserves great credit for this. We’re one of the three or four states in the country that have their obligations all covered right now. And highways; our highways were number seven in the nation before that, but probably even more important than that is we’re one of the very, very few states that don’t have any highway debt. Couple those with the fact that Tennessee may be just about the lowest in per capita debt for the state and, even more important, are taxes. I mean, they may very well be the lowest in the country.

 

Sen. Bailey: That’s the reason so many people are moving from different parts of the United States to Tennessee. I have one of the largest retirement communities in the state of Tennessee, in Cumberland County, and it is amazing that when you go there, and you’re meeting with your constituents—or my constituents—and you ask where they’re from, they’re from all parts of the United States. But it’s been most interesting in the past couple of years that we’ve had more from California and the West Coast moving to Tennessee. So, they’re coming to escape the high taxes that those states are imposing on them.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, they’re also coming to have the wonderful environment, good friendly people, and the quality of life, as well as the general stability of our population.

 

Sen. Bailey: Who influenced you the most in your political career?

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s hard to say. I suppose Bill Brock, who was a senator from 1970 to 1976. And the year I got out of law school, I spent seven months, really, one of the young guys, one the young turks working on his campaign. There were four or five of us that got together, and we’re taking on a national legend, Albert Gore, Sr. 

No one really paid much attention to it until the primaries were over, until September, and then they realized he had a chance of winning, and all these professionals came down here, and we kind of got pushed off to the side. [laugh]. But I suppose Bill Brock.

 

Sen. Bailey: Kind of going back to thinking about your career, from your law practice to serving in state government, what would you consider your biggest highlight of your career up to today?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, legally, I suppose it would be, I was attorney for Nissan when they came to Tennessee.

 

Sen. Bailey: I did not know that.

 

Mr. Wilson: And it was really, for any one thing, I think that’s probably—for legal career, that was probably the highlight. In the state government, there have been several, I think, and it’s hard to identify one or two, but most of them go to the financial stability of the state.

 

Sen. Bailey: I think that’s a huge accomplishment, so I thank you as far as a legislator for making sure that Tennessee has remained fiscally sound.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, let me go back. I probably forgot one thing for the state that I’m most proud of, is that is, when I first became Commissioner, Tennessee did not meet any of the ambient air quality standards. And then when I left. Tennessee is one of the few states that met all federal ambient air quality standards. And I feel very good about that as an accomplishment.

 

Sen. Bailey: Very good. Very good. So, there’s a trail named after you that runs through—

 

Mr. Wilson: Bledsoe County and Cumberland County.

 

Sen. Bailey: Which is part of the 15th Senate District. And tell us a little bit how that came about, and talk to us about the Justin P. Wilson—

 

Mr. Wilson: Cumberland Trail State Park. 

 

Sen. Bailey: That’s right.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, first of all, let’s start off by being very clear. There’s much better be the Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park than the Justin P. Wilson Memorial State park. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh].

 

Mr. Wilson: And what happened is, just before Governor Sundquist called me about coming over to work for the state, I happened to be in Arizona and the Grand Canyon, and I saw this trail going down the Grand Canyon, I was told it went up the other side. I said, “What the devil is this all about?” And I was told that the hope was that Arizona would have a trail going through the entire state. And I forgot about it, basically, and then when I became Commissioner, it came back my mind, I said, “Well, you know, Tennessee could do this.” 

And so got with our folks, and we came up with a possibility for a trail going from the Kentucky/Virginia board to the Alabama/Georgia border. And in this process of doing that—and we’ve had to create a state park, the Cumberland Trail State Park and it is almost completed to do that. And Governor Sundquist renamed the park, which suits me fine. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. The Justin P. Wilson. Well, I’m very honored to have it in my district. And certainly, if those that haven’t been there and seen the Justin P. Wilson, they need to take time out and go visit that. And understand that from time to time you take some of the comptroller staff to—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, we do. And we do it in your district, of course, near Crab Orchard. And we go up on what we call a Sundquist Overlook, and it is fabulous. And we take employees up there, have lunch, we talk about different things. And I think the employees enjoy it.

 

Sen. Bailey: Very good. So, keep seeing a sparkle in your eye when you mentioned several different places that you been. So, I understand you like to travel?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I’ve been to about 100 countries. 

 

Sen. Bailey: A hundred countries. So, what’s your favorite?

 

Mr. Wilson: Tennessee. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. I think we’re a state, not a country. [laugh].

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I’m not sure of that. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: So, what’s most memorable?

 

Mr. Wilson: Outside the United States?

 

Sen. Bailey: Yes.

 

Mr. Wilson: Oh, I suppose my year in Florence.

 

Sen. Bailey: Florence, Italy?

 

Mr. Wilson: Italy. Mm-hm. 

 

Sen. Bailey: I was supposed to go to Florence this past summer, but due to COVID, we weren’t able to go. So, we’re hoping we can go back this next year if they open that up. And that’s exactly where we’re going, is to Florence, so I guess I’ll have to get some tips from you. 

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I don’t know. I—[laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. You’ve been awful quiet about this [00:22:22 crosstalk]—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, I had a good time. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, speaking of good times, I hear you were at Woodstock.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, that’s right. And that was 50 years ago, and I don’t remember much.

 

Sen. Bailey: And so can you tell us as to the reason you can’t remember much? 

 

Mr. Wilson: Nope. [laugh].

 

Mr. Wilson: I probably can, but I won’t. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. So, that’s part of history.

 

Mr. Wilson: Yes.

 

Sen. Bailey: Well, now you’re getting quiet on me. So, I also hear you have a parrot.

 

Mr. Wilson: I do.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, where are we going to have to bring the parrot in or—does this parrot talk, or is he threatening to remain silent?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, we have a menagerie at our house. We’ve got a couple of dogs, about two grand-dogs, a cat, a parrot, and we have other animals coming in and out all the time. And the parrot, he and I have coffee every morning. He sits on my shoulder and I read the newspaper. Fortunately, he doesn’t talk, so he hadn’t picked up all the awful things I might say. But the parrot and I commune every morning.

 

Sen. Bailey: And what’s the parrot’s name? 

 

Mr. Wilson: Bud.

 

Sen. Bailey: Bud? Okay, so you and Bud have coffee and read the paper every day.

 

Mr. Wilson: That’s correct.

 

Sen. Bailey: Okay. So, I also heard a story, and trying to verify if this is true or not that during the Sundquist administration, that Governor Sundquist basically found what he thought to be a stray dog, and he picked it up, took it back to the executive residence, and of course, the news media made some hay about it. Next thing you know, some little boy is calling and wanting their dog back. And so I understand the governor sent the dog home with a little boy. 

And then, weeks later, months later, the dog goes amiss again, and then I heard—and I’m just trying to verify this story and that’s the reason that I’m asking the question—I heard the governor son was saying his deputy governor out to the dog pounds, looking for the dog again.

 

Mr. Wilson: I never went out.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh].

 

Mr. Wilson: It wasn’t me. But I remember a lot about that dog.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Do you want to elaborate? 

 

Mr. Wilson: Nope. [laugh].

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, we’re just trying to verify all these stories that we’ve heard, and just always like getting it straight from the—

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, the dog was the source of much controversy. 

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, very good. So, are you going to seek reelection as comptroller?

 

Mr. Wilson: You know, I really love my job. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy it. I get up every morning and want to come to work. So, I cannot imagine—it’s great. I really do.

 

Sen. Bailey: You’re listening to Backroads and Backstories with Senator Paul Bailey and our special guest, Comptroller of the Treasury Justin P. Wilson. Just before we finish up today, there’s been some controversy surrounding the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust that’s in the state capital, and you’re part of the commission that has heard testimony in regards to the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust as well as others. Where are we at on that, today?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, right now, as I understand it, it has been presented to the Historical Commission, which will vote on it, I believe in January. There’s a lawsuit by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to prevent that from happening, and I don’t know how it’s going to play out.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, basically, it’s back in the hands of the court at the present time, due to the lawsuit?

 

Mr. Wilson: I’m not sure. I think so. The exact status is confusing to say the very least.

 

Sen. Bailey: Very good. So, Tennessee, like the rest of the country, has seen this COVID pandemic take a financial strain, not only on families but also on our state. And the legislature has come back three different times this year. You being the money cop, if you will, tell us where Tennessee’s economy is today under this current COVID pandemic?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, of course, the dislocations are sometimes fairly severe, particularly, say, for a restaurant, for example. But overall, looking at the state, we’ve done well. Gross state product has not been adversely affected as many feared. The stage itself, quite frankly because the General Assembly was wise enough to see this and deal with this early, is in a good, strong financial position. 

Our budget is balanced, and we will meet obligations in a timely basis, and we’ll be able to operate without dislocations that are disastrous, which is a very wonderful place to be. In your district, the local governments have their share of challenges, but one of the things that they rely on is the sales tax that’s collected. And let me give you some statistics about the counties in your districts and how they compare, not during on difficult times [00:27:21 unintelligible] in May, but here in October, which is the last month we have figures is comparing to where we were last year, the sales tax collected in Putnam County is up 17%. In Cumberland, 20%. In Jackson 25%. In Overton 27%. In White, 38% and Bledsoe 47%. So, the economy is, of course, difficult and hard to deal with, but we’re able to manage. And I got to really commend your county governments for doing exactly that.

 

Sen. Bailey: Do you think that Tennessee’s foresight several years ago, in passing internet sales tax has basically allowed for this growth in these counties during this pandemic?

 

Mr. Wilson: There’s absolutely no question about this, particularly in the more rural counties and district, this is clearly a result of that.

 

Sen. Bailey: Yeah. So, that has been, when I’ve visited with groups, and especially local governments in the Upper Cumberland and you’ve given a very fair picture. I sometimes am amazed at how well that our local governments are doing during this time. And most of it’s been attributed to the fact that we’ve had the internet sales tax. 

And so, I was just coming into the legislature when this was coming to pass, as far as the internet sales tax, and at the time was a little reluctant, just simply because no one likes, if you will, a new tax, but at the same time, it’s certainly been beneficial. And during a pandemic, it is kept Tennessee on a strong financial footing.

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, it’s also fairness to the local merchants.

 

Sen. Bailey: Absolutely. And I think that’s where it sold me many years ago in supporting that, was that it was fair—because your local merchants are having to collect it, pay it into the state, someone’s sending it in from out of state, it kind of gave someone just a little bit of an advantage. So, that’s been good. So, any final comments?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, let me just say this to the people in the 15th district. We got a lot of representatives and senators down here, and some of them, they pretty good at sound bites, and pretty good on trivialities and platitudes and we recognize this. And there are other Senators who really are concerned about their district and really try to understand difficult—and deal with difficult issues. It’s hard to say. 

You’re fortunate enough to have one that kind of reminds me of—you all heard that song, “The Gambler” because your Senator knows when to hold ‘em, and knows when to fold ‘em. And that’s a great thing to have representing you because it’s the way to get—to benefit to quality of your life.

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. Well, don’t know what to say about that. But I certainly appreciate your comments and your compliment very much so. And I mentioned the first time that I met you, and then once I became a state rep for that one year, and then ultimately became a senator, I’ve always considered you to be a very dear friend. 

And I’ve also appreciated the fact that at a time when I was new, you came and got me several different times and just sat down and talk to me about state government and taking me to lunch, even bought my lunch a time or two. So, I appreciate that.

 

Mr. Wilson: You’re doing a great job.

 

Sen. Bailey: So, any final, final thoughts?

 

Mr. Wilson: Well, let me just say, what I always say to—what I say to my employees, the people are working in office, “Remember three things these days: wash your hands, make government work better, and keep your sense of humor.”

 

Sen. Bailey: [laugh]. I think we can all live by that. You’re listening to Backroads and Backstories our special guest today was Comptroller of the Tennessee Treasury Justin P. Wilson. We’ll see you next time.

Announcer: Thank you for listening to the Backroads and Backstories podcast, with Senator Paul Bailey. You can keep up with the latest on the podcast at backroadsandbackstories.com. And subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you next time on the Backroads and Backstories podcast.