Senate committee approves change to remove age cap from previously passed civil measure

Senator Wallace brought Senate Bill 204 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the measure tweaks a bill passed last session by removing an age-55 cutoff so the provision now extends "all the way to the end of the lifespan." "So all this bill does is it eliminates the age 55. It makes it all the way to the end of the lifespan," Wallace said.

The bill's sponsor told the committee the only edits are on page 1, line 33 and page 2, lines 7–8 and that feedback after the original law showed the age restriction excluded some people who otherwise would be covered. When questioned by Senator Tucker about whether the victims discussed were children, Wallace said "for the most part" they were and added that many survivors do not come forward until midlife. He also emphasized that this measure concerns civil relief, not criminal prosecution: "And, of course, this is not criminal. This is civil."

After brief questions from committee members, a motion to pass the bill was made, seconded and the chair called for the ayes; the committee recorded no opposition and the chair announced the bill passed. The committee did not identify amendments or additional conditions and set no follow-up tasks during the meeting.