Citizen-lawmakers get to work

The founders of Washington state wanted part-time lawmakers instead of full-time politicians, so they set up the House and Senate to only meet during the winter, and to have citizen-lawmakers who'd get their work done and go back home to work as farmers and firefighters, teachers and nurses.

More than 100 years later, our state still has citizen-lawmakers like Rep. Tami Green (D-Lakewood), who works as a registered nurse when she's not in Olympia serving as the Majority Floor Leader.

Here's Rep. Green on the first day of the 2013 session:

Photo by Linda Barnfather

And here she is on her last day of work a nurse, before coming down to Olympia:

Rep. Tami Green on her last day of work as a nurse before the beginning of the 2013 legislative session

Read this story in Spanish here.