PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG – It’s a rare day that simply getting a bill voted out of a committee is cause for celebration in the Capitol.
But Thursday was such a day for lawmakers who have pushed for more than six years for legislation giving victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file civil suits or criminal complaints against their alleged abusers.
In this case, the national spotlight on former Pennsylvania State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s child-abuse case may have helped propel the stalled legislation forward, as it has other state initiatives to protect children.
Frustrated by the House Judiciary Committee chairman’s reluctance to advance their bills, two Philadelphia Democrats, Mike McGeehan and Louise Williams Bishop, moved this week to circumvent the committee, filing a “discharge motion” to send their bills to the floor.
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