Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane and Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, issued the following statement regarding this morning's revenue forecast:

"Today's forecast is the first good news in quite some time. It affords us the flexibility to avoid making the more punishing cuts proposed by the governor in November. It allows us to hold together the bipartisan approach we took in the past session.

"Every household is making difficult decisions and they expect government to do that, too. In this state budget we decide whether Washingtonians have a safe place to sleep at night, have health care coverage or crowd into emergency rooms.

"Last year’s special session was an important step in making the choices that will balance our budget, and it was taken in a bipartisan fashion with overwhelming support. Looking forward to the next few weeks, we must continue to chart a responsible course – one that meets our constitutional obligations to our kids, our moral responsibility to our most vulnerable citizens and our economic imperative to get people back to work. Our shared values should set that agenda.

"We should also recognize that we still face structural budget problems over the long term, especially when it comes to funding our education system. That challenge hasn’t gone away, and we remain committed to addressing it."