Wendell Bailey
1985-1993

Wendell Bailey (Republican), the thirty-seventh state treasurer, was born in Willow Springs on July 31, 1940 and grew up on a farm there.  He was educated in the Willow Springs public schools and attended Southwest Missouri State University where he earned a B.S. degree in business administration and minors in economics and sociology.  Mr. Bailey also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.  He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives for four terms and in 1980 he was elected to the United States Congress.  He was first elected Missouri state treasurer in 1984 and was re-elected in 1988.  During his first term in office, Bailey bid the state’s main bank account and, by selecting the lowest bid, saved the state $4,414 a day.  During his term Mr. Bailey also doubled the amount of funds invested with Missouri financial institutions.  Mr. Bailey established Missouri’s own safekeeping account with the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank.  Instead of state-owned securities being placed in a private bank account, $550 million is secured for Missouri at the Federal Reserve, preventing a financial catastrophe for Missouri in the event of a major bank failure.  He developed a cash-management system that invests an average of 108 % of the state’s daily balance by investing the disbursement “float” and eliminating the $12 million receipts float.  Treasurer Bailey’s salary was $64,000 for his first term and $70,000 for his second.  Mr. Bailey is married to the former Jane Bray, an elementary school teacher.  They have three children, and presently reside in Willow Springs.