Senate Democrats have proposed a supplemental budget that sustains spending in education and maintains the social safety net. The Senate’s proposed budget manages to overcome a $2 billion budget shortfall while maintaining public safety programs and education spending.

Sen. Murray: “In higher education, we make no cuts. In K-12, we make no cuts. We believe that if we are actually going to create jobs and continue to climb out of this great recession, we have to stop the bleeding in education and begin a discussion around how we invest in it.”

Senate Budget Chair Ed Murray says the Senate budget will not require a voter-approved sales tax increase this year, thanks to a modest improvement in the revenue and caseload forecast,

Sen. Murray: “That amounted to $425 million and at that point we made a decision that we did not believe that we should go out with a sales tax this spring.”

The Senate budget will save an additional $330 million by making a one-day change in the school apportionment payment, a change Murray says he hopes will be made permanent and will help provide a $369-million reserve.