shout out | SHARON WYLIE Courtesy of the Washington State Legislature
SHARON WYLIE Serving in her Second State Legislature
CAPITOL IDEAS
» NOV / DEC 2013
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Most people know state legislatures across the country have their own quirks and methods of operations. Washington state Rep. Sharon Wylie, a 2013 CSG Toll Fellow, has seen those differences up close. She has represented the Vancouver area of Washington since 2011 when a vacancy arose, but spent much of the 1990s representing the Gresham area of Oregon, just across the Columbia River. Both are Western states with an eastern/western, urban/rural split with mountains in the middle. But the state income and sales tax systems are mirror opposites and the party affiliation models are different. The one thing that the two states—and the other 48—share is the ability to make a difference. “We all want to have meaning and significance in the world and this is the way to do that,” Wylie said. “It’s incredibly energizing to wrap your brain around big problems and to understand them and learn things you didn’t know before and work with people you wouldn’t otherwise encounter.”
Do you know someone in state government who deserves a shout out? Email Mary Branham at mbranham@csg.org.
more on Sharon Wylie, visit: capitolideas.csg.org. For
