Republicans have a majority in the state House, but they can’t get everything they want.
They are being thwarted on passage of some legislation by a handful of other Republicans who are joining with Democrats.
The House now has 112 Republicans, which is more than enough to get the minimum of 102 votes needed to approve bills and send them to the Senate.
But 12 to 15 of the House GOP caucus members “are holding the other members hostage and thwarting their will” on bills to change the prevailing wage law and to get the state out of the business of selling liquor and wine, complained Matthew Brouillette, president of an influential conservative group called the Commonwealth Foundation.
It takes just 11 Republicans, joined with the 91 Democrats, to keep key elements of the House GOP leadership’s agenda from being approved — which is happening in the case of a bill to weaken prevailing wages on public construction projects and to turn liquor sales over to the private sector.
Read more.