Today's winner: State Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle)

State senate ways and means chair Ed Murray pretty much wrote today's Jolt for us. After protesters booed during a presentation of the governor's budget at the start of Murray's 3:30 committee meeting in the Senate's Cherberg building this afternoon, Murray—who was unable to quiet the crowd—postponed the meeting.[pullquote]Our democratic process – including the legislative process – is founded on listening to differing points of view before making a decision. When we can no longer hear one another over the shouting, we get no closer to our goals of a more just society. [/pullquote]

Then Murray, who's also leading the charge on the gay marriage bill this session and has taken to wearing a lapel pin of MLK, Jr., issued this statement:

On a personal level, I agree with the concerns of many of the people who attended tonight’s meeting regarding budget issues. There is too much inequality in our society. The budget cuts we must consider would disproportionately hurt the poor and the vulnerable. That is why I have supported finding new revenue to protect schools, to provide health care and support our communities’ needs.

Our democratic process – including the legislative process – is founded on listening to differing points of view before making a decision. When we can no longer hear one another over the shouting, we get no closer to our goals of a more just society. That is why I suspended this evening’s hearing temporarily. There will be more opportunities for the public to voice their concerns about our budget, and I encourage people to talk to their legislators about the critical choices we must make.

The meeting resumed about an hour later. The hearing room was still packed, but the proceedings ran smoothly—and continue as we write this, though a much smaller crowd is on hand now.

Here's the document that Office of Financial Management (basically Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget director) Marty Brown was trying to present. It's a description of the governor's suggested $2 billion in cuts and half billion in buybacks (from her half-penny sales tax proposal.)

And here's a full list of the recommended cuts.