Wilkerson: Another Day Late

The Globe reported in yesterday's edition that State Senator Dianne Wilkerson had filed 26 of her 27 bills for this year's legislative session after the January 10th deadline. We had a post all set to go yesterday – but why would we file it on time? Better to wait a day to bring you the news, it's only fitting. Senator Wilkerson squeaked into office after missing the deadline to collect signatures for her re-election bid, running a sticker/write-in campaign, and coming real close to losing to Sonia Chang-Diaz in the primary. She retained her seat in the general election in November, but the media isn't done picking on her. In addition to calling her out for her filing tardiness, the Globe ran their piece with a particularly unflattering picture of Wilkerson

Bills submitted for the legislative session get a docket number and are assigned to committee. It's a process that rewards filing before the deadline. The bills filed after the deadline are still eligible for action in the session – but they're relegated to assignment by the Senate Rules Committee, then approval by the House Rules Committee. That's two extra steps. It isn't completely fair to fault Wilkerson for late filing. It happens all the time, hundreds are filed late each year. Filing bills after the initial filing deadline allows legislation on new issues which arise during the two year session. Wilkerson's office blamed a glitch for causing late filing this year, as most of the bills she's proposing were intended to hit the docket on time, they were planned and aren't new issues hitting the political landscape. Some of them were even bills to renew legislation set to expire. Political procedure can be a real bureaucratic pain sometimes.