Two state legislators from the same city and same political party vary greatly on paper.

Halfway into the 2008 session, Rep. Ed Wildberger, D-St. Joseph, has filed the highest number of bills and resolutions of the entire Northwest Missouri delegation in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The 10 area politicians this year have filed an average of about eight proposals each.

Mr. Wildberger has filed 18 — and more are on the way, he said.

At the other end of the spectrum is Rep. Martin Rucker, D-St. Joseph, who hasn’t filed any bills this year.

Unfazed by his top ranking, Mr. Wildberger said: “I’m in my sixth year in the House. I just continue to file bills one after the other now.”

The House Democratic caucus

chairman said he files a lot of bills, so they’re packaged and ready to convert into amendments he can attempt to attach to related Republican bills during open debate on the House floor.

He said it’s one of the few strategies available to minority members to attract any play to their priorities.

Another avenue lies in signing on as a bill co-sponsor, a way for politicians to voice support for bills before they come up for a vote. Chances are higher a bill will see floor debate if it can garner at least 82 co-sponsors.

Mr. Wildberger has co-sponsored 116 pieces of legislation, more than twice the amount of any other regional legislator.

“I might get lucky,” he said.

Mr. Rucker appears more behind the scenes.

He said he’s found more success in asking Republicans to include some of his initiatives in their bills in lieu of filing his own.

For instance, the St. Joseph Board of Education member said in January he would propose legislation that would give school districts permission to hire employees who have little contact with children before the district receives official clearance on the applicants. The lengthy wait time caused frustration among St. Joseph administrators.

Instead, he convinced Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, to include the idea in HB 1314, which is moving through the committee process.

He also had planned on filing a bill to expand the early childhood Parents as Teachers program to older children, but now he’s working to increase funding to a program that performs similar functions for adolescents through the House’s budget process — not a bill.

“My focus is more on making what we have better — not creating a bunch of new laws,” Mr. Rucker said.

A close second to Mr. Wildberger, Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, comes in as the second-highest bill filer, with 16.

The difference is all but three of them have either been adopted, considered in committee or debated on the Senate floor. Several have moved over to the House.

Mr. Shields said he files more bills now than he pursued as a representative. As a senator, he said he represents more people and he has more staff at his disposal to assist in drafting bills.

“And because you’re one of only 34 (senators), you have more capacity to get bills through,” he said.

The deadline for filing bills in the Senate has passed, while representatives can submit new legislation through April 1.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.