26 of 27 Wilkerson bills are filed late

Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who scraped her way back into office last fall after missing a key election deadline, failed to file all but one of her 27 bills for the upcoming legislative session by the Jan. 10 due date.

The Roxbury Democrat's 26 late bills can still be considered -- she filed them earlier this week -- but must now go through a special committee and be approved for submission by the House. The extra steps can delay them indefinitely. Bills filed on time are sent directly to committees appropriate to their subject.

In an e-mail sent before the deadline, Wilkerson invited her Senate colleagues to join her in supporting the bills, including "an act to create environmental justice." She said the environmental bill, which would address the high concentration of industry and pollution in low-income and minority communities, was "of particular importance to so many residents, especially children in the Commonwealth."

"You may remember that I spoke on this bill for over four hours in July 2006," the seven-term senator wrote.

Wilkerson did not return calls for comment yesterday. An aide, DeVonn Baker, blamed "a glitch in the system."

"These things happen," he said. "It's a complete nonissue. It's not a big deal."

Other lawmakers didn't encounter similar glitches, according to House and Senate officials, who said that none of the state's 199 other legislators missed the deadline. Some filed a handful of bills; others filed hundreds. Senator Richard T. Moore of Uxbridge filed 234 bills, and Senator Michael W. Morrissey of Quincy filed 143. Ways and Means chairwoman Therese Murray filed five, and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini filed none. He plans only to cosponsor bills offered by members of his chamber.

Senator Benjamin Downing filed one bill, to reimburse a National Guard general for legal expenses. The newly elected Democrat from Pittsfield said he wants to wait before making his first foray into lawmaking.

"I decided to take extra time working through my legislative proposals before filing them, being well aware that this requires working through the late-file process," said Downing. "But I'd rather file high-quality proposals after the deadline and work to see them through than just file anything before the deadline."

The bills on Wilkerson's list address the distribution and use of criminal records, creation of a commission on the social status of black males, and protection of homeowners facing foreclosure.

Another Wilkerson bill would allow Massachusetts College of Art to keep students' tuition payments, rather than turn them over to the state. In 2003, the Legislature gave the school permission to retain tuition, but the special status expires next fiscal year, which begins in July.

"We've had good success and want it to continue," said Darlene Gillan-Duggan, the school's director of communications. "We've been able to grow our enrollment, our endowment has more than doubled, and private fund-raising has doubled. Having that predictability of income allows us to do long-range planning."

She wouldn't comment on Wilkerson's missing the deadline for filing the bill.

Wilkerson did file one bill by the deadline: an "Act Relative to the Rights of Victims of Crimes."

According to the Senate clerk's office, a timely filed bill is first assigned a docket number and then is sent to a particular committee, at the discretion of the clerk and the Senate president. If a bill is filed late, it goes to the Senate Rules Committee, which assigns it to a committee.

But before the bill can advance, the House Rules Committee, chaired by Representative Angelo Scaccia of Boston, must approve the committee referral. A late-filed bill can stall for months in the Rules Committee, Senate and House officials said. Over the two-year session, hundreds of bills are generally filed after the initial deadline, usually to address emerging issues.

Wilkerson was forced to run a write-in campaign last summer after missing the May deadline to file the required 300 certified signatures with election officials. After surviving a recount in the September primary, she won the November general election with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Wilkerson has also had a string of public financial problems. After her hard-fought victory in November, a judge ruled that she owed about $13,000 in condo association fees on her Douglass Park home. Twice in the last four years, the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance has referred her to the attorney general's office for alleged misuse of campaign funds.