US Senator Patty Murray made her budget priorities clear at a Seattle food bank on Wednesday: She wants to preserve federal programs that affect the poor, such as Head Start, federal housing assistance and food stamps.

“I know working families have borne the brunt of the economic impacts of the last four or five years, and I want to make sure we are thinking about you and people like you going forward,” Murray said at the Jewish Family Service of Seattle.

Murray, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, heads into budget negotiations next week with her counterpart in the House of Representatives, US Rep. Paul Ryan, a Republican. The two are charged with working out a budget deal before a Dec. 13 deadline. If they fail, a second round of sequestration cuts could go into effect.

Three previous attempts at reaching a budget compromise have failed, including the so-called “super committee” that Murray co-chaired. Republicans and Democrats have been far apart on a number of issues, including cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and raising taxes.

But this time, Murray insisted, the prolonged government shutdown has changed the political atmosphere in the capital.