"It could be a wash. [Or] we could be in worse shape."

—State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown (D-3, Spokane)

At her weekly sit down with the press today, Sen. Lisa Brown discussed the two outstanding unknowns  she's previously identified that are keeping the legislature on hold before it can deal with the $5 or $6 or $7 or $8 billion '09-11 biennium budget shortfall: 1) the coming revenue forecast (due on February 19th and expected to deepen the current biennium's $600 million shortfall ) and 2) the much-anticipated stimulus money from the Feds. 

Asked by public radio reporter Ryan Morden if the federal money might lessen the pain, Brown left that sanguine option off her list of possibilities: "It could be a wash. [Or] we could be in worse shape," she said flatly.