Crosscut headed down to Swing Wine Bar in Olympia on Tuesday night to talk with Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle and chair of the House Finance Committee. Carlyle has represented the 36th District since 2008. The district, which he has won handily, encompasses Seattle's Queen Anne and Magnolia neighborhoods and is among the most educated, progressive and affluent in the state.
As reigning head of the House Finance Committee, we were eager to get Carlyle's take on the budget battles underway in Olympia as lawmakers try to find a few extra billions for education spending — to comply with the Supreme Court's McCleary ruling — without gutting social services and other state programs. (We also veered off into the death penalty and the future.) Here's what Rep. Carlyle had to say.
On taxes:
On Gov. Jay Inslee's moratorium on executions:
And on the future:
