WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Reykdal on education, tax reform, and the 2013 session

Representative Chris Reykdal has an opinion piece featured in The Olympian. Among other things, Rep. Reykdal shares his thoughts on the McCleary decision and what it means for lawmakers as they begin to draft a budget for the coming biennium.

The Supreme Court repeated what some of us have been saying for years: Education should be the Legislature’s highest priority. I, however, reject the idea that we should somehow abandon our other moral obligations to score political points.

The fund-education-first crowd, prominently supported by the editorial board of the state’s largest newspaper, believes state government reforms are the solution to our education funding problems. The math behind these reforms always leads to the same result – cuts, cuts and more cuts, particularly in mental health and aging services.

They want to rob our most vulnerable, threaten the environment, reduce public safety, and make higher education more expensive. It’s as if they believe our children don’t deserve to live in safe communities, breathe clean air or dream of a college education at the same time.

Click here to read Rep. Reykdal’s entire piece.