Others worried that the new spirit of cooperation among majority Democrats might not last.

Some are between the House and the Senate, where majority Democrats in each chamber are working on very different and incompatible income-tax plans.

Ms. Mazzarelli said changing parties, putting her among the majority Democrats in the Assembly, was a matter of conscience, and not opportunism.

None of the bills made it out of committee, as they failed to secure votes from majority Democrats.

But legislative experts said they expected the bill to pass in the Assembly and the Senate, both of which are majority Democrat.

He subsequently joined the majority Democrats in order to hold parish and state office, then practically excluded to Republican candidates.

The committee vote followed a contentious hearing in which Republicans accused the majority Democrats of approving a flawed bill without sufficient debate.

Politically, the area is registered majority Democrat.

But a report released last week by the majority Democrats in the State Assembly gave fresh ammunition to the challengers.

House Republicans are forever complaining that the majority Democrats, who have reigned for three decades, act as if they owned the place.