Gino Bulso and Jake McCalmon, who are the new State Representatives for Districts 61 and 63, respectively, spoke at the recent FrankTalks event. The two discussed their backgrounds, the committees they serve and the legislation that they are currently involved with guiding through the House of Representatives.
Bulso moved to Brentwood in 1994. He is a graduate of Emory School of Law. He and his wife, Kathy, have five children and seven grandchildren. He worked for many years for the distinguished law firm known as Boult Cummings Conners and Berry when he came onboard. When they merged with Bradley in 2009, Bulso and some of his fellow lawyers split off and started a firm in Maryland Farms. He is very interested in federal vs. state lawmaking.
The committees that Bulso serves on include the Civil Justice Committee, Education Administration, Government Operations Committee, Civil Justice Sub-Committee, Joint Judiciary and Government Committee, and K-12 Sub-Committee.
A member of the Williamson County Republican Party Chairman’s Circle, his other community involvement revolves around law and his church.
“State government is well run,” said Bulso. “Local government is run well. The federal government is not. They are $32 trillion in debt.” He hopes to work from the state level to curb the federal government’s overgrowth.
McCalmon is a small business owner. He has a degree in Business Administration from Brandman University, which is now UMass Global. After working in operations and sales in the corporate world pre-pandemic, he is now a small business owner. He has been married for 16 years. His wife is a teacher. He has three daughters. He got into politics to not just make new laws, but to spend time updating and getting rid of old ones that are no longer good.
The committees that McCalmon serves on include Educational Instruction, Government Operations, State Government, Corrections Sub-Committee, Education Instruction Sub-Committee, and Joint Judiciary and Government Committee.
He is a member of the Franklin Noon Rotary Club and Williamson, Inc.
“We don’t always need a new law,” said McCalmon. “We need to get rid of what doesn’t make sense anymore. And update laws…Focus on what is right.”
Both men are interested in listening to their constituents. Bulso has been having bi-weekly “Town Halls” at his office. His first one was on February 3. He reviewed the bills that had been debated and what was coming up on the docket the next couple of weeks. He intends to continue the meetings through the fall.
Not having access to large meeting facilities, McCalmon prefers to go to all the events that he can in the community to meet his constituents. He is also open to emails.
Even as freshmen Representatives, sponsoring bills is an important part of what they do. Bulso is pushing 12 bills and McCalmon is on eight.
“I had a four-year head start,” said Bulso. Bulso ran in the last election and came in second to Brandon Ogles. He has been focused on creating legislation ever since that run, so he went into his first session with an agenda.
McCalmon calls his bills “boring” because he is focused on amending current legislation to correct or update what we already have on the books.
While Bulso put the concept into words, both men want to do what is best for families, to “do no harm”, to stop bad laws, and to pass good laws. Both are humbled that they are representing more than 70,000 people and that what they do will impact people’s lives. They take their work seriously.
“With the Grace of God,” said Bulso, “[I hope to] do it right for the next two years.”
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