There was bi-partisan support and appreciation for Senate President Robert Travaglini Tuesday evening from the area's two state senators on the news that Travaglini is planning to resign.

"I would wish him well and congratulate him as a fantastic legislator," Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said, praising the Senate president for working on health care, stem-cell research, and a hybrid vehicle bill.

"He was constantly moving forward," Timilty added.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, also offered positive words. "I think he's done a very solid job. He'll be missed."

House Speaker Salvatore Di Masi confirmed Travaglini's impending resignation on Tuesday, though he did not elaborate on his future plans. "He told me that tomorrow (Wednesday) he would relinquish his presidency," DiMasi said.

DiMasi added that he received a call from Sen. Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, inviting him to a Senate session today. Travaligni's chairwoman of the formidable Senate Ways and Means committee, Murray is the presumed leading candidate to become senate president, and would become the first woman to lead either legislative body.

Both local senators expressed confidence in her leadership capabilities.

"She has certainly distinguished herself as a leader of the Ways and Means committee," Timility said, adding that she was a "driving force" in Chapter 70 increases, which brought some local communities greater school funding.

Brown said he predicted a "seamless transition" if Murray assumes the presidency. "She is a very capable successor, and she is local," he said.

Murray was expected to immediately take the reins of the Senate today.

Sen. Robert A. Havern, D-Arlington, said he'd spoken to Murray, and said "she's all set to take over."

"She'll be a great Senate president," DiMasi said. "She knows the issues. She's a hard working senator who knows the details of the budget."

During his four years as Senate president, Travaglini exuded a cerebral bearing, calmly presiding over the Senate and a series of constitutional conventions that weighed a proposed ballot question that would ban gay marriage.

In early January, he stunned both his House and Senate colleagues and gay marriage advocates by calling for a quick vote on the proposal. The measure gained enough votes, including Travaglini's, to advance to a second constitutional convention where it must again be approved if it is to go before voters on the 2008 ballot. Murray voted against the proposed amendment. "I think she's going to be more numbers-oriented coming from Ways and Means," he said. "Sen. Travaglini really wasn't necessarily a numbers guy, he's more of a people person."

DiMasi said he felt a little "melancholy" to see Travaglini, with whom he has had a close working relationship, leave the top slot at the Senate, but expressed confidence in Murray.

DiMasi did not say if Travaglini told him what his plans were after leaving the Senate.

On Friday, the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals voted to approach him with a lucrative offer to head up the lobbying group. The top job could pay $300,000 a year, more than three times as much as his current $90,000 salary as Senate president.

Travaglini has not commented on the offer.

Paul Guzzi, president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said Travaglini's legacy will be passing the state's first-in-the-nation health care law, which mandates coverage for all residents.

"He really was a major initiator. He will get rightfully credited on health care, that will be the most significant accomplishment," said Guzzi, who said he looked forward to working with Murray. "Terry Murray is experienced. She understands the issues."

Rumors of a possible departure by Travaglini had grown in recent months. Travaglini, a cancer survivor who underwent heart surgery in 2001 at age 48, has faced increasing financial pressure at home with three college-age children.

Travaglini, 54, won an internal Senate vote to become president in January 2003, assuming leadership of the chamber at the same time Mitt Romney took office as governor.

An insurance broker by trade, Travaglini had been a Boston city councilor from 1984-93 before moving over to the Senate. His power base was East Boston, where he grew up and served as a liaison between local residents and the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates nearby Logan International Airport.

Murray, whose age is not listed in the state's official political almanac, was elected to the Senate in 1992 representing the Plymouth and Barnstable district.

Having lived in Plymouth for over three decades, she previously worked as mitigation manager for the Massachusetts Highway Department, community relations coordinator for American Cable Systems and founder and treasurer of South Shore Cablevision Inc.

She is divorced and has one daughter.

Travaglini sometimes sparred with DiMasi, his fellow Italian-American and Beacon Hill powerbroker, but the two both flanked Romney at Faneuil Hall last April as the former governor signed the state's landmark health care law. Each had pushed for the measure.

On Wednesday, DiMasi said he would miss Travaglini, who he first met more than two decades ago when Travaglini served as Boston city councilor. His district included the North End, where DiMasi lives.

"It's sad to see a good friend leave," DiMasi said.