HARRISBURG ( PA)
WPXI
October 17, 2018
By Marc Levy, Associated Press
Legislation responding to a Pennsylvania grand jury report accusing hundreds of Roman Catholic priests of sexually abusing children over decades remained under wraps in the state Senate on Tuesday amid disagreement over key provisions.
Republican state senators met privately for several hours before emerging to say GOP majority leaders had made an offer in an attempt to secure an agreement with the House of Representatives and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
“We want an agreement that we can get to the governor and that will put this to rest,” said Sen. Rich Alloway, R-Franklin. “Now that may or may not happen. I mean, obviously there’s still a lot of moving parts here.”
Work on the bill is running up against Wednesday, the Legislature’s last scheduled voting session day in 2018. It is also occurring amid election season, when 228 of 253 legislative seats are on the ballot.
Wolf’s office said Tuesday evening that it had not been made aware of a Senate GOP offer.
Disagreement surrounds the grand jury’s recommendation to give now-adult victims another chance to sue a perpetrator or an institution that covered it up if they are otherwise barred by time limits in state law. The window to sue would last two years.
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