PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Item
It seems odd to criticize the state lawmakers after a week when they passed landmark marijuana legislation, particularly days after we lauded those very same elected officials in this very same space.
However, lawmakers bolted from Harrisburg without passing a bill that would have allowed victims of sex abuse crimes to seek justice decades later in the form of civil suits. The bill would have given prosecutors more time to bring charges. The state House overwhelming passed the bill on Tuesday, 180-15, with the retroactivity provisions adding to the discussion.
The Senate did not get the bill and now the general assembly is on break until May — after the primary election where most don’t face competition anyway. What happens when lawmakers return next month is uncertain.
Blame it on the limited schedule, or a heavy workload scheduled for last week’s session — they did also wrap medical marijuana and pursue revising the state’s abortion laws — but to let this legislation sit another month, or fall apart completely, is unacceptable.
Any piece of legislation to emerge from Harrisburg on sex abuse must include retroactivity, otherwise it’s useless.
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