Senator Douglas Henry

I learned today that Senator Henry has a challenger in the next election. I rarely get into partisan politics and elections other than my own. But, before all the "he's old and needs to be retired" talk starts, I would like to weigh in and tell you a few things about my experience working with him.

This spring, the state of Tennessee was embroiled in scandal because it had allowed local governments to use sophisticated financing tools called derivatives. That fracas landed us on the front page of the New York Times. Later Brad Schrade from the Tennessean wrote about the practices of something called the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund which had over-billed local governments millions of dollars. The Comptroller of Tennessee responded to these events by bringing higher standards to local government debt management practices.

Senator Henry and I had a number of conversations about how the lax borrowing practices of local governments were affecting Nashville as well as other cities and counties across the state. What I learned from those conversations is this:

1. Senator Henry is old and I doubt he will dispute that.
2. Senator Henry has a keen grasp of government finance and debt practices.
3. Senator Henry has forgotten more than what most people will ever know about Tennessee's budget and finance.

Naturally, I am biased in favor my constituents - of which Senator Henry is one. But before we start talking about how old he is let's also find some time to talk about what he knows and how he serves the people of Tennessee.