HARRISBURG – A new report from the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) credits a “lack of executive oversight” as the chief reason why a state constitutional amendment which would have retroactively extended the timeline for victims to file civil actions against their abusers, stalled in a procedural snafu that won’t see it be considered as a ballot question until 2023 at the earliest.
The proposed amendment, House Bill 14, would have provided “an individual for whom a statutory limitations period has already expired, [to] have a period of two years from the time that this subsection becomes effective to commence an action arising from childhood sexual abuse, in such cases as provided by law at the time that [the legislation] becomes effective.”
The bill was similar to legislation passed in other states extending civil statutes of limitation for victims of child sexual abuse, against such institutions as the Catholic Church.
Had the measure been properly advertised, passed by the General Assembly and then approved by Pennsylvania voters in the primary election this month, victims of abuse would have been able to begin filing litigation almost immediately.
But it was learned at the end of January that the measure had not been properly advertised by the DOS as required by law, thus potentially setting the process of amending the state constitution back by two years.
Abuse victims statewide, who saw the relief measure as a long-awaited opportunity at justice, were devastated.
Former Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar resigned her post in February over the debacle, which the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf initially referred to as a “human error.”
The Pennsylvania Record filed a Right-to-Know Law request for exact information as to how the DOS’s error transpired, but this request was refused by state officials in March – because those officials explained the requested information was both statutorily exempt from disclosure and shielded due to attorney-client privilege.
Report shows failure came not from malfeasance, but lack of oversight
At Wolf’s direction, the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) released its 68-page report on Wednesday and identified “internal systemic failures” as the reason for the failure to advertise the constitutional amendment, as opposed to any deliberate malfeasance.
“The OSIG’s review found no evidence that DOS’ failure to advertise the wording of HB 963 was deliberate or the result of intentional malfeasance. Rather, the OSIG found that a combination of internal systemic failures within DOS led to its crucial error,” the report stated.
“The OSIG also found that (despite its mandate under the Pennsylvania Constitution to ensure publication of proposed Constitutional Amendments, and as articulated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as DOS’ ‘grave duty,’) DOS lacked executive oversight, written policies and procedures, proper staff training and consistent communication of the process.”
Additionally, the OSIG found:
• DOS had no executive oversight of the proposed Constitutional Amendment process;
• Aside from intake and notification processes, DOS had no written policies, procedures, or guidelines concerning the internal tracking or handling of proposed Constitutional Amendments;
• DOS failed to properly train staff on how to differentiate and handle Constitutional Amendments;
• Current DOS legislative staff (including its Director) were unclear of the Legislative Affairs Office’s responsibilities concerning its role in monitoring Constitutional Amendments with no direct impact on DOS operations; and
• Despite annual Pennsylvania Legislative Services (PLS) subscription costs and tracking of HB 963, DOS legislative staff used PLS infrequently.
Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid offered a public apology from the department.
“On behalf of the Department of State, I apologize to the victims of abuse for the additional pain and distress we have caused them. We are committed to ensuring such a failing will never happen again,” acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid said.
Degraffenreid said the DOS has already initiated several changes to improve its administrative processes:
• Creating a documented process for how proposed constitutional amendments are handled from start to finish;
• Creating written training materials for staff and requiring new and current staff to be trained on these processes annually;
• Instituting written and electronic tracking systems for every step in handling proposed constitutional amendments;
• Implementing a “top-down” process which makes the department’s Executive Deputy Secretary [Sari Stevens] responsible for leading staff response to proposed constitutional amendments, including notification of the physical receipt of documents, and convening executive team members to respond.
“The Department of State thanks the Office of the State Inspector General for its thorough review and recommendations. As we move forward, we will be implementing these changes and looking for other process improvements,” Degraffenreid said.
Sen. Lisa Baker (R–Luzerne) and Sen. Dave Argall (R–Schuylkill) have slated committee hearings for next month dedicated into delving into the matter further.
“We are currently evaluating the report released today by the Inspector General, on the failure of the Department of State to advertise the constitutional amendment for the statute of limitations reform for child sexual abuse. However, at this point it seems to have raised more questions than answers,” the senators said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“The devastation that this colossal failure has caused for countless victims cannot be dismissed without a full account of what took place. The public and the victims deserve transparency and the truth. Classifying this as a personnel matter should not shield any public employee from accountability.”
The senators said they were “appalled” at the lack of oversight at the Department of State and “stunned” that a state agency did not have the core functions of government under control.
“As chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate State Government Committee, we will continue our bi-partisan pursuit to get to the bottom of what happened, and how it can be prevented from happening in the future. The victims deserve better,” the senators stated.
Since the proposed amendment did not move forward and as it currently stands, abuse victims are without legal options – despite the issuance of multiple grand jury reports which showed that every diocese in the Catholic Church throughout Pennsylvania covered up incidents of sexual abuse for decades.
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com