| Tom Throop | |
| Office: | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 54th District |
| Term Start: | 1979 |
| Term End: | 1987 |
| Predecessor: | Sam Johnson |
| Successor: | Bob Pickard |
| Constituency: | Deschutes and Klamath Counties |
| Party: | Democrat |
| Birth Date: | 5 April 1947 |
| Alma Mater: | The College of Idaho |
| Spouse: | Caryn Talbot Throop |
| Children: | Lauren E. Throop, Meredy E. Throop |
Thomas Huling Throop (born April 5, 1947) is a former Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He represented District 54 of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987 and then served for eight years as a member of the Deschutes County Commission.
Throop graduated from Ontario High School in Ontario, Oregon, in 1965. He attended the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, on a golf scholarship, graduating in 1969 with a BA in Education. He earned a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado.
In 1978, Throop was elected State Representative for District 54 of Oregon, which included much of Deschutes and Klamath Counties.[1] He served as Majority Whip and Chair of the Revenue and School Finance Committee for the House of Representatives for three of his four terms.[2] [3] He unsuccessfully coordinated efforts to institute a progressive sales tax in Oregon during a prolonged statewide recession, arguing that such a revision to the tax system would provide stability to Oregon's public sector.[4] He also served on the Environment and Energy Committee and launched several measures relating to Oregon's forests, fisheries, and air quality.[5] He is regarded as an ardent conservationist.
In 1986, Throop was elected as one of three commissioners in Deschutes County, at that time Oregon's fastest-growing county.[6] [7] He concurrently served as a member of the statewide Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). Throop left Oregon in 1994 to become executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, an environmental education and advocacy non-profit organization.[8] During the fall of 1998, Throop was hired as the executive director of the Equality State Policy Center, a Wyoming good governance watchdog.[9] He recently chaired the Wyoming Conservation Voters Education Fund,[10] a grassroots voter education organization benefiting conservation and wildlife.[11]