HARRISBURG (PA)
PennLive.com
January 18, 2026
By William Wachob
Gov. Josh Shapiro has built a national brand on three letters: GSD—“Get Stuff Done.” Yet, three years into his term, Shapiro has failed to deliver for the very people who first put him in the national spotlight: the thousands of survivors of the Catholic Church clergy abuse scandal.
While Pennsylvania remains paralyzed, dozens of other states—from New York to Arkansas—have already acted to provide survivors the compensation and justice they deserve.
Taking him at his word, it’s time he actually “GSD,” so to speak, for clergy abuse survivors in Pennsylvania—before he sets his sights on a bigger stage, perhaps even a presidential campaign.
To understand why, let’s revisit how we got here.
Numerous articles—most recently in The Atlantic—have chronicled Gov. Shapiro’s ambition and his steady climb up the political ladder. At each rung, he has stepped over or pushed aside others in pursuit of higher office. At times, he has used sensitive and deeply emotional political issues as platforms to advance his career.
Some will say that’s simply how politics works; others see it as naked ambition: take an issue, brand it as your own, show just enough progress to claim credit, and then move on. The outcomes often matter far less than the headlines.
When it comes to clergy sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, that pattern is hard to ignore.
As attorney general, Shapiro conducted a Grand Jury that exposed decades of abuse inflicted on hundreds of Pennsylvanians. The investigation brought forward victims as well as members of the Catholic clergy. The Grand Jury’s final report detailed horrific abuse by dozens of priests. At the time, Shapiro was rightfully seen as a hero in the survivor community—a champion who would finally deliver long-awaited justice.
That was 2018—nearly seven years ago. Since 2002, 30 U.S. States and three Territories have revived previously expired Child Sexual Abuse Statue of Limitations laws. California has revived their law three times while survivors in Pennsylvania wait and hope. Hoping that Gov. Shapiro will once again emerge as their champion.
Even before the Grand Jury report, legislation allowing a retroactive “window” for survivors to file civil lawsuits despite expired statutes of limitations had seen mixed progress in Harrisburg. Several bills passed the House, and one even passed the Senate, but the effort collapsed in 2022 when the Department of State failed to issue required public notice. A decade of work, and the hopes of countless survivors, evaporated because of a bureaucratic failure in the final days of the Wolf administration.
Survivors regrouped, but momentum faded. The House again passed the “window” legislation, but the Senate refused even to bring it up for a vote. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, insurance companies, and accused clergy faced no consequences, while survivors continued to wait for their day in court.
Hope returned in 2022 when Josh Shapiro was elected governor. If anyone could get the “window” passed, it was the man who had championed the issue from the beginning.
But here’s what happened: the House once again passed the bill, and once again it stalled in the Senate. And rather than demand an up-or-down vote, Gov. Shapiro did little—if anything—to force the Senate’s hand. Survivors were told repeatedly that there was “only so much the Governor can do.”
I’ve been around politics, politicians, and legislatures my entire adult life. I know that when a Governor wants something done, it usually gets done—especially when all that’s being asked for is a vote. Not a guarantee of passage. Just a vote. And especially when the governor built his reputation, in part, on investigating the very abuse this legislation seeks to address.
So, when a governor who prides himself on “Getting Stuff Done” allows this issue to languish year after year, it becomes impossible to ignore the question: Why the indifference? What changed? How does the man who once stood as the champion for survivors now refuse to use his influence to move the bill out of limbo?
The Catholic Church hasn’t changed. The insurance lobby hasn’t changed. The Senate’s opponents haven’t changed.
The only thing that seems to have changed is Gov. Shapiro.
So, Governor: before you embark on a presidential campaign, survivors of clergy sexual abuse believe it is long past time for you to finish the work you started years ago. It is time for you to “Get Stuff Done” for the people who trusted you, supported you, and stood with you for more than seven years.
All it takes is forcing a simple vote.
Finish what you started Gov. Shapiro—then you will have earned the reputation you so proudly claim.
By William Wachob
William Wachob represented Elk and Clearfield Counties in the Pennsylvania House from 1978-1984.