A state lawmaker from Washington County ended up being the deciding vote in the house on the prevailing wage bill in. The bill would have required a wage set by the labor department be used on projects involving state money. The wage would be based on the average wage in the area. Representative Larry Marek says he wasn't pressured to vote for it as much as some reports suggest. He says in the end he represents the people in the county and the district and received input from numerous people against it so he voted against it Friday. The bill failed on a 50-50 vote. In addition to the input from constituents, Marek was also concerned the bill would increase the costs of several large projects coming up in the county. Marek made his remarks at a legislative briefing on Saturday in Washington; you can hear that briefing at kciiradio.com
