Effort for legal relief to assist victims fails
Supporters blame GOP leadership for lack of action on bill
HARRISBURG — A multiyear effort to provide legal relief to child sex-abuse victims by amending the Pennsylvania Constitution appeared to collapse Monday afternoon in Harrisburg.
The Republican-controlled state House took no action on a bill that would have set up an emergency amendment process. It would have fixed the damage created by the as-yet-unexplained mistake of the Democratic administration of Gov. Tom Wolf that negated the traditional amendment process.
State Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat who is an abuse survivor and the acknowledged leader of the effort, shook his head and searched for words.
“This is 15-plus years that victims have been waiting,” Rozzi said at a news conference held by top House Democrats.
Democratic House leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia blamed Republican leadership for failing to move the House bill on the emergency amendment, and then adjourning the Monday session.
“Everybody says they want to put this issue behind us,” McClinton said. “Look, if that is starting it fresh with a brand new bill, then it should be rolled out today.”
Rozzi received a standing ovation on the House floor in November 2019, when he helped set in motion the long process of amending the state constitution to allow for a two-year window for civil lawsuits based on past child sex abuse.
Even then, the process of seeking legal relief for victims had been underway for years.
Passage of a constitutional amendment requires the amendment be approved by lawmakers in two legislative sessions, then approved by voters. Lawmakers passed the amendment late last session, then again early this year in the new session.
But Wolf’s State Department, led by Secretary Kathy Boockvar, failed advertise the proposed amendment, as required to get it on the May 18 primary election ballot.
Boockvar, who resigned almost immediately when the mistake became public, told an Associated Press reporter, “I’m 100% sure it was an administrative error and nothing more.”
Rozzi has not accepted that position.
He questions whether the mistake was intentional, because other amendments were advertised.
“Nothing happens in Harrisburg by accident,” Rozzi said. “You advertise three other constitutional amendments and this just happened to be left out?”
The State Department situation is under investigation by the state inspector general’s office. It was not clear when the investigation would be finished.
House Republican leader Rep. Kerry Benninghoff of Centre County said House Republicans have tried to move the victims’ cause forward.
Republican Rep. Jim Gregory of Blair County worked with Rozzi and was the prime sponsor of the bill on the emergency constitutional amendment.
Earlier Monday, Senate Republican leader Kim Ward of Westmoreland County said the Republican-controlled chamber would not pass “emergency” legislation. She said the Wolf administration’s “dereliction of duty” forced the Legislature to start the amendment process over.
House Republicans’ spokesperson, Jason Gottesman, pointed out that about seven weeks have passed since Boockvar resigned, and the public still has no formal explanation.
“She needed to resign, and you are telling me they don’t know why?” he said.
Rozzi said that if the House had acted Monday afternoon, it could have put pressure on the Senate to take the emergency amendment route.
The Legislature needed to act on the emergency measure early this week because of deadlines for ballot printing ahead of the May 18 primary.
Rozzi indicated he would continue to work on the issue.
“The people of this commonwealth, you know, are watching,” he said. “Victims are watching.”