House Speaker Mark Rozzi received applause Friday in the Capitol Rotunda from a large gathering of Democratic colleagues after the legislature took a major step toward his decade-long promise to deliver justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
The Berks County Democrat, a victim of clergy sex abuse as an adolescent, said, “I want to say to all the victims and survivors out there that we have your backs. We will support you.”
The news conference followed a House special session where the chamber approved two measures with bipartisan support to provide a two-year retroactive window for previously time-barred abuse victims to file civil lawsuits against their abuser and any institution, including public school districts, that covered it up.
One measure would accomplish the goal through a constitutional amendment that requires voter ratification and the other achieves it through the regular law-making process.
