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State senate budget chief, Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle), the ways and means committee chair who has gotten a standing ovation for his budget proposal from progressives (a first from Olympia in years), told PubliCola this morning that the Republicans may be making a credible effort to pass their own budget.

By leaving less money in reserve, delaying local school payments by 24 hours, and grabbing some money from the capital budget, Murray’s budget makes no cuts to education, maintains the Basic Health Plan and the Disability Lifeline for the poor, and goes easier on the environment than all the other proposals in the mix, including the house Democrats’ proposal.