West Coast Wonders

The job of State Printer was created during the territorial days of the Western states, notes Michael Freese, Oregon State Printer.

"That person wielded a lot of power because they were the conduit for getting legislation published and distributed," notes Freese, who also serves as deputy state information officer. "That history, I think, has driven [these] states toward having a central printing operation that typically is consolidated and typically is responsible for serving the printing needs of all the state government. I don't know that to be true for the East Coast or even Midwestern states."