Key committee sends bill expanding litigation window for sex abuse victims to full Senate

Beaver County Times - 4/22/2021

Apr. 22—An emotionally charged discussion over a bill giving sexual abuse victims more time to sue their abusers on Wednesday ended with a state Senate committee approving the legislation.

In a 11-3 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 951, which the House passed 149-52 on April 7. The bill, which gives victims a two-year expanded window to file civil suits, now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County, the chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, said that pursuing a constitutional amendment is the "legally prudent" way to allow victims to seek justice.

Yet she said she was backing the statutory remedy after the failure of the Pennsylvania Department of State to properly advertise an amendment ended the constitutional effort for this year.

"We don't need to focus on the bureaucratic colossal failure that derailed those hopes for a final solution this year," Baker said.

In February, the Legislature learned that the Department of State had failed to advertise the amendment when it was passed in 2019. Constitutional amendments must be passed in consecutive legislative sessions and property advertised before it appears on the ballot as a statewide referendum.

As the Legislature was poised to pass the amendment again so it would appear on the May 18 primary election ballot, victims and their supporters were devastated to find out about the mistake.

Consequently, legislators debated pursuing an emergency amendment, but that was quashed in March by Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward of Westmoreland County, who said a constitutional amendment was the proper avenue.

The bill has riled emotions in Harrisburg with the Catholic Church lobbying heavily against it, while victims of abuse, particularly those abused by priests, have argued for it.

State Rep. Mike Rozzi, D-Berks County, the bill's sponsor, has shared his story of being abused by a Catholic priest when he was young.

While Baker allowed that the legislation, if passed by the Senate, would draw legal challenges, she said approving it would be the right thing to do for victims.

"When all is said and done, I intend to be able to look the victims in the eye and look myself in the mirror of my conscious," she said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman of Centre County also said he was supporting the bill even though he has argued for a constitutional amendment in the past.

"This is probably one of the more difficult emotional issues that we've faced in my time here in the General Assembly," the Republican leader said.

Corman said there's consensus in the Legislature for a statutory remedy for victims, though he acknowledged the bill will be challenged in court.

"This General Assembly has already decided on the policy," Corman said. "We've decided whether it's through the constitutional path, whether it's through the statutory path. We're going to get to the same place. We just are. We've made that decision."

One of the votes against the bill came from state Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia County, who expressed sympathy for abuse victims, but decided the bill is unconstitutional.

"It changes the (state) constitution. It changes how we deal with things in the future," he said. "There are no defenses that we can't overturn by statute if we do this today."

J.D. Prose is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Pennsylvania State Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jprose@gannett.com.

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