Reuven Carlyle | |
---|---|
Member of the Washington Senate from the 36th district | |
In office January 7, 2016 –January 9, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Jeanne Kohl-Welles |
Succeeded by | Noel Frame |
Member of the WashingtonHouseofRepresentatives from the 36th district | |
In office January 12, 2009 –January 7, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Helen Sommers |
Succeeded by | Noel Frame |
Personal details | |
Born | Reuven Michael Carlyle August 10,1965 San Francisco,California,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Wendy Carlyle |
Residence(s) | Seattle,Washington |
Alma mater | University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA) Harvard University (MPA) |
Profession | Sustainability consultant |
Website | Official |
Reuven Michael Carlyle [1] (born August 10,1965) is a founder of Earth Finance,a global climate strategy and investment firm. He is also an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Washington legislature [2] representing the Washington's 36th legislative district in the state house between 2009 and 2016 and in the state senate between 2016 and 2023. [3]
Carlyle founded Earth Finance following his service in the state Senate.
Prior to Earth Finance,he has served in business development,public policy,sales,marketing,corporate development,board of director and/or strategic consulting roles with a number of early- and mid-stage technology companies including McCaw Cellular Communications (Acquired by AT&T Wireless Services),Xypoint Corp. (Acquired by TCS,Inc.),Twisted Pair Solutions (Acquired by Motorola) and others.
Under Carlyle's leadership and partnership with Gov. Jay Inslee,Washington state has been recognized as one of the only states in the nation with binding,enforceable commitments to the Paris Agreement and a policy framework to reach the targets.
Carlyle served as chair of the Senate Environment,Energy &Technology Committee,as well as a member of the Ways &Means and Rules Committee. Carlyle was re-elected in 2018 for a four-year term with 89.3% of the vote against Libertarian Bryan Simonson.
Carlyle announced that he is not seeking re-election in 2022. The Seattle Times lauded Carlyle's public service.
During Carlyle's years as committee chair,the Legislature has adopted among the most sweeping carbon legislation in the U.S. This includes:Climate Commitment Act (the second cap and invest carbon pricing legislation in anticipation of joining the Western Climate Initiative);Clean Fuel Standard;HEAL Act (environmental justice and equity),transportation package widely considered the greenest package in state history;commercial building standards;building efficiency standards,HFCs and more. Under the legislation,Washington is one of the few governments in the world with,in effect,binding and enforceable commitments to Paris Accord and the policy framework to achieve the reductions.
In 2019,Carlyle successfully prime sponsored comprehensive clean energy legislation,SB 5116,to require all electric utilities in Washington to transition to a 100-percent,carbon-neutral electricity supply by 2030 and to 100-percent carbon-free electricity by 2045. The bill was a cornerstone of Gov. Jay Inslee's climate agenda.
In 2018,he was one of only seven senators to vote against the Legislature's public records bill that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jay Inslee following a public outcry by the state's media and the public. [4]
Carlyle's legislative priorities have been centered around budget policy and tax transparency,foster youth,higher education,energy and environmental priorities. In 2007,prior to his election,Carlyle authored the Passport to College Promise Program which was ultimately created by the Legislature. [5]
Carlyle was first elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2008, [6] representing the 36th legislative district as a Democrat. He was appointed [7] to the state Senate in 2016 to succeed veteran Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles who was elected in 2015 to the King County Council.
During Carlyle's seven years in the House he focused on a range of policy areas including budget,tax, [8] higher education,transportation,health care,open data and election issues. He sponsored major legislation to reform higher education finance and improve the educational success of foster youth. Carlyle has been the prime sponsor of legislation [9] in each year to abolish the death penalty [10] and replace the policy with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Carlyle has been a critic [11] of efforts to expand [12] coal and oil trains and exports throughout the Pacific Northwest. He has been a vocal [13] legal [14] and political opponent [15] of initiative promoter Tim Eyman's efforts to alter the state constitution to require a supermajority to raise taxes.
In 2013 Carlyle was appointed chair of the House Finance Committee [16] and as a budget writer. During his three years as Finance chair,Carlyle sponsored legislation to provide transparency into Washington's tax structure. [17] He also passed major legislation to reinstate Washington's estate tax [18] as well reform the state's telecommunications taxation. In the Finance role,he was a prime sponsor [19] and a supporter of the accountability [20] and transparency provisions [21] [22] of the Boeing tax package, [23] widely considered the largest state tax incentive package in U.S. history. [24] Carlyle was publicly critical [25] of the abbreviated process of the special session.
Carlyle was named in 2012 as "one of 12 legislators in the nation to watch" by Governing Magazine. [26] He was named one of the most "tech savvy" legislators in the nation by GovTech. [27] He was named by the progressive organization Fuse as a champion of tax reform. [28] In 2016 he was awarded the Ballard/Thompson Award by the Washington State Coalition for Open Government, [29] the state's premier organization for open government and public access to government information. In 2017,he received legislator of the year award from Washington Conservation Voters. [30]
Carlyle announced he would not seek reelection on January 24,2022. [31] Carlyle's awards,program participation and recognitions include:Boys &Girls Club Alumni Hall of Fame;Aspen Institute of Germany;National Caucus of Environmental Legislators' Leon G. Billings Environmental Achievement Award;National Caucus of Environmental Legislators' representative to COP26 in Glasgow;Legislator of the Year--Treehouse;Washington Conservation Voters Legislator of the Year.
Carlyle resides in Seattle with his wife Dr. Wendy Carlyle –an anesthesiologist practicing in Seattle. They have four children:Adi,Liat,Zev,and Nava. Carlyle grew up in Bellingham,Washington and developed his interest in government while serving as a teenage page in Congress. He served as a page for two years in the U.S. Senate for Senators Warren Magnuson [32] and Henry "Scoop" Jackson,and one year in the House of Representatives where he served briefly as personal page to Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill,Jr. Carlyle's mother,Joan Hadiyah Carlyle, [33] self-published her autobiography "A Torch in the Dark,one woman's journey."
Prior to his election,Carlyle was appointed by Governor Chris Gregoire in 2004 as a member of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. [34] He crafted legislation in 2007 as a citizen activist for foster youth,Passport to College Promise, [35] a scholarship program. Carlyle was a citizen co-founder of the Seattle/King County Chapter of City Year,a national AmeriCorps program.
Carlyle received a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Jay Robert Inslee is an American politician,lawyer,and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012,and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He is the longest-serving current governor in the United States.
Timothy Donald Eyman is an American anti-tax activist and businessman.
Randolph I. Gordon is an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic Washington State Senator from Bellevue,Washington. In 2010 he was appointed to replace Sen. Fred Jarrett. He owns his own law firm,Law Offices of Randolph I. Gordon PLLC,in Seattle,Washington,and is an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law.
Jamie D. Pedersen is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 43rd district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013.
John Michael Kefalas is a politician in the U.S. state of Colorado. An educator and lobbyist before first running for the legislature in 2004,Kefalas defeated a Republican incumbent to win election to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2006. Kefalas won election to the State Senate in 2012 and represented Senate District 14 until early 2019. In 2018,Kefalas ran for and won a seat on the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners. He resigned his Senate seat,and a vacancy committee nominated Joann Ginal to replace him.
The Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) is a left wing think tank based in Redmond,Washington,founded in 2003 and incorporated in 2005. It uses technology,public policy research,and political advocacy to advance progressive causes in the Pacific Northwest region as well as across the United States. It describes itself as "a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy."
Michael James Baumgartner is an American politician and diplomat serving as the 28th Spokane County Treasurer. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 6th district from 2011 to 2019 and was his party's nominee in the 2012 election for the United States Senate,unsuccessfully challenging Democratic incumbent Maria Cantwell.
Douglas John Ericksen was an American politician and lobbyist who served as a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 42nd district from 2011 to 2021. Ericksen was the ranking member of the body's Energy,Environment,and Telecommunications Committee. In April 2019,he registered as a foreign agent to consult and lobby for Hun Sen,Prime Minister of Cambodia.
Joseph Frederick Fain is an American attorney,businessman,and politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate for the 47th district from 2011 to 2019. Fain was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Fain served as the Senate minority floor leader during the 2018 legislative session.
Donald Mark Benton is an American politician. Originally from Santa Clarita,California,he served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 1995 to 1996 and the Washington State Senate from 1996 to 2017,representing Washington's 17th legislative district. He served as campaign director for Donald Trump in Washington. In 2016,after Trump was elected,Benton was appointed as a senior White House advisor at the Environmental Protection Agency for a few weeks,but reportedly did not work well with newly appointed agency head Scott Pruitt. In April 2017,Benton was named by President Trump as the 13th Director of the Selective Service System. He served in that position until the inauguration of President Biden.
Anna M. Rivers is an American politician and educator serving as a Republican member of the Washington State Senate from when she was appointed to represent the 18th district in 2012,upon the resignation of Joe Zarelli. Prior to this she was a member of the Washington House of Representatives. In her first full term,a Majority Coalition Caucus was formed,taking control away from the Democrats in the state senate. Rivers was appointed to be majority whip for the session,a rare appointment for a freshman senator. She won re-election for another four-year term in 2012,with 67% of the vote against 32% for her opponent,Ralph Schmidt.
Richard Charles DeBolt is an American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Washington House of Representatives,representing the 20th district from 1997 to 2021. He was House Republican Leader from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2013.
Christopher Paul Simon Reykdal is an American educator and politician serving as the 15th Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2017. Previously,he served as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 22nd district for three terms.
Drew Derrick Hansen is an American lawyer,author,and politician serving as a member of the Washington Senate from the 23rd district since 2023. He previously represented the same district in the Washington House of Representatives.
Drew Christian MacEwen is an American politician of the Republican Party. He is a member of the Washington State Senate,representing the 35th district,which covers the entirety of Mason County and parts of Kitsap and Thurston counties.
Brady Piñero Walkinshaw is an American businessman and politician who served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. Walkinshaw represented the 43rd legislative district,which encompasses much of central Seattle. Since 2017,he has served as CEO of Grist,a Seattle-based online magazine focusing on environmental news.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Washington on November 8,2016. The primary was held on August 2.
Sound Transit 3,abbreviated as ST3,was a ballot measure during the November 2016 elections in Seattle,Washington,proposing an expansion of the regional public transit system. The measure was proposed by Sound Transit,which was established by a similar initiative passed in 1996 and expanded by the Sound Transit 2 vote in 2008,who have operated regional transit systems in the Seattle metropolitan area since 1999. On November 8,2016,Sound Transit 3 was approved by over 54 percent of voters in the Puget Sound region;voters in Pierce County rejected the measure,but the measure passed in King and Snohomish counties,and had an overall majority.
Joseph-Thanh Nguyen is an American politician who is a member of the Washington State Senate from the 34th district. Nguyen,a second-generation Vietnamese American,was raised with his three siblings in White Center,Washington,by his mother. He was a candidate for King County Executive in 2021 but was defeated by Dow Constantine 56 percent to 44 percent.
The 2022 Washington State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Washington state voters elected state senators in 25 of the state's 49 Senate districts. The other 24 state senators were not up for re-election until the next biennial election in 2024. State senators served four-year terms in the Washington State Senate.