Senate Republicans Block Democrats from Forcing Vote on Child Victims Act
By Glenn Blain Kenneth Lovett
Senate Republicans on Monday chose to block a push to help victims of child sex abuse. Frustrated at the lack of action by the Republican majority, Senate Democrats sought to attach a bill making it easier for adults who were sexually abused as children to bring lawsuits to another bill in hopes of forcing a vote on the issue. Instead of accepting the amendment and allowing for a vote, the Senate Republicans blocked it. “It’s a shame today that the Senate chose not to side with the survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and instead continued to aid and abet predators by refusing to fix New York’s broken statute of limitations for these abominable crimes,” said Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the Child Victims Act. Because the Republicans control the agenda and what bills come to the floor for a vote, the Senate Democrats have precious few options to try and move legislation. The Dems tried to attach the Hoylman bill legislation as a “hostile amendment” to a bill by Sen. Richard Funke (R-Rochester) that would require certain establishments to display a poster with information regarding the national human trafficking resource center hotline
Sen. Joseph Griffo, a Utica Republican who presided over the session, ruled the Hoylman bill was not germane. The Democrats pressed for a vote to overturn the ruling, but failed to secure the necessary 32 votes to do so. In the end, just 29 senators — none of them Republicans — voted by a show of hands to overturn Griffo’s ruling, meaning the effort died. Hoylman had argued the amendment was germane because human trafficking typically involves child sex victims. “Child sex abuse is a widespread problem,” he said. “We can do something about it today.” Victims said they were disappointed, but not surprised the Democratic push failed. But even the defeat, they said, has some merit.
“I was only looking forward to some sort of vote just so we can call out those senators that stood with predators and not the children of New York,” said Kathryn Robb, an activist who says she was sexually abused by her brother. “It exposes them for where they stand.” Gary Greenberg, an upstate investor who was sexually abused as a boy in 1966, said he would have preferred the Republicans allow a straight up-or-down vote on Hoylman’s bill rather than force the Dems to go the hostile amendment route. “Why would you delay voting on a law that would protect children, out predators, and help people heal?” Greenberg asked. “Why would you delay that a day?” Greenberg is in the process of creating a political action committee that will target state senators who didn’t vote to make the Child Victims Act law. “They’re supporting predators,” he said.
The Republicans argue they did not actually vote against the Child Victims Act, but simply a grandstanding measure by the Democrats. “The Senate Democrats have engaged in an unfortunate political stunt at a time when we are attempting to have an honest and serious discussion about this issue. While we are currently reviewing a number of bills on this topic, it’s clear that the members of the Senate Republican Conference will continue to work extraordinarily hard to protect the victims of sexual assault,” a Senate GOP spokesman said. Griffo told the chamber “the vote is a procedural vote on appealing the ruling of the chair.” Afterward, he told the Daily News the amendment was not germane because “the bill that was before the house was on a specific issue of notification, like posters, when there is an issue of human trafficking. The other bill dealt with a criminal aspect of the law.” The Democrats, though, said if the Republicans were serious about addressing the issue they would have let it come to the floor. “The reality is, the Child Victims Act is a good bill that should have been supported by all members of the New York State Senate,” said Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “State government should protect our children and stand up for the victims of this heinous crime. We will continue the fight to pass this legislation and ensure that justice is finally served.”
Hoylman’s bill would eliminate the timeframes that criminal and civil cases can be brought in child sex abuse cases. The bill would also provide a one-year window for victims who cannot sue under current law to bring civil lawsuits. And it would treat public and private entities where abuse cases against kids occurred the same. Under current law, adults who were abused as children in a private institution like a parochial school have up until their 23rd birthday to bring a case. But someone abused in a public institution like a school must file a notice of intent to sue within 90 days of the incident occurring. Hoylman’s legislation would eliminate the 90-day notice requirement.
Last week, Gov. Cuomo said he would like to see a bill addressing the child sex abuse issue passed before the scheduled June 16 end of the legislative session. As of Tuesday, there are just 11 session days left on the calendar. In a statement to The News last week, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan for the first time said there are bills addressing child sex abuse issues that he is prepared to sign on to. None are believed to contain the one-year window that advocates argue is crucial to any deal. The Assembly Democratic majority still hasn’t decided whether it will address the issue before the end of the session. Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said he has begun surveying his members on where they stand.
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![](../images16/2016_05_23_Lovett_SenateRepublicans_ph_Senate.jpg "Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said there are bills addressing child sex abuse issues that he is prepared to sign on to. (MIKE GROLL/AP)\")
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