Jay native takes budget job

Brian Bailey wasn’t interested in taking algebra as an eighth grader.
Even at that young age, he was planning on going to law school. No need to know numbers, he figured.
But his seventh grade science teacher at East Jay Middle School thought otherwise.
Jane Dragoo talked Bailey into taking the test for entrance into the class. He’s glad she did.
Bailey’s career is now all about numbers as he takes over today as director of Indiana’s State Budget Agency.
“It’s humbling, and it’s exciting,” said the 1993 Jay County High School graduate. “It’s a challenge, taking responsibility for an agency. …
“I’m really excited to start my new job.”
He begins work in his new position today after Gov. Mike Pence announced his promotion last month. Bailey previously served as chief of staff and general counsel at the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.
“The experience, knowledge and integrity possessed by Brian Bailey is impressive and I am positive that his talents will bring new insight in his new role with the State Budget Agency,” Pence said in a press release. “Under his guidance, I am confident that the State Budget Agency will continue to wisely manage state resources and grow our state’s economy.”
The state budget director oversees a department of about 30 full-time employees and is responsible for spending throughout the state government.
Bailey, 38, and his staff will help administer the budget passed by the state legislature during its last session. They also oversee spending within the government on capitol projects and service contracts.
He will track revenue coming in to the state, and review the fiscal viability of contracts entered into by other state agencies.  And analysts within the budget department also keep track of new legislation and determine whether such measures will be cost effective.
In short, it’s Bailey’s job to make sure the government is living within its means.
“My job as Gov. Pence’s state budget director is to carry out his policies for state government in terms of fiscal policy, which is basically hold the line on spending, maintain adequate reserves, fund our priorities and maintain an honestly-structured balance in state government,” he said.
Bailey takes over for Chris Atkins, who had been serving as both budget director and director of the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.
Atkins played a key role in Bailey’s move to government work after the two became close friends while attending law school at Indiana University.
Following graduation from IU in 2000, Bailey became a law clerk for the Indiana Court of Appeals. He then went into private practice for Ice Miller LLP in Indianapolis. And that’s where he was when Atkins, then the general counsel and policy director at the OMB, suggested Bailey for the job of general counsel for the Department of Local Government Finance.
Bailey got the job, later became commissioner of the Indiana DLGF and was named general counsel to the OMB when Pence took office.
“It is true that sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” said Bailey.
While Atkins helped Bailey’s career in recent years, the Portland native still looks back to his Jay County youth as a key time in his development.
Dragoo helped push him to develop his math skills. And he also said his four years of Latin with Lorna VanMatre at JCHS have helped him tremendously.
“The discipline and the demands of that process were really good for me,” said Bailey, who lives in Bloomington with his wife, Nicole, also a JCHS graduate, and their seven children. “It helped me think logically, step by step, and methodically. I think that was good general preparation.”
Those qualities will help him as he administers Indiana’s two-year, $30 billion budget. It’s a challenge, but one he’s looking forward to with the help of his team.
“You’re ultimately responsible for operations and management, ultimately responsible for the proper administering and implementing the policies of the governor,” Bailey said. “Those are challenging tasks in and of themselves separately. Putting them together is an even greater challenge, but I’ve been blessed with folks who have worked with me who have been very good at their jobs. It’s made quite a difference in terms of being able to do the tasks I’m responsible for overall.”[[In-content Ad]]