Senate Releases Budget Proposal Print E-mail
news_for_webBut the 25 votes needed to pass the proposal remain elusive.

Senate Democrats released their version of a state budget Tuesday, which spared cuts to public education and social services.

The proposal is much different than the one Governor Christine Gregoire proposed late last year, which asked for a 100 percent cut to Local Effort Assistance (LEA) - the amount the state pays for property-poor school districts - and a half-cent sales tax increase.

But Ed Murray, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, when asked by The Spokesman-Review whether he had enough votes to pass the proposal, said, "Not yet."

According to The Spokesman-Review, the proposal has support from the teachers' union and public school officials, with Washington Education Association President Mary Lindquist calling it, "the best budget for K-12 schools and higher education in four years."

For more on this budget proposal, read this article from The Spokesman-Review.