House Bill 18, which would have abolished the statute of limitations for civil claims arising from the sexual abuse of children, was killed in conference committee at the Legislature. How does a bill that no representative or senator voted against, fail to get to the governor’s desk?

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Chris Lee, inserted a nonsense effective date, over 60 years from now, into the bill to ensure it went to conference committee, where House leadership could have it killed without evidence of a negative vote.

House leaders such as Lee and Speaker Scott Saiki are entitled to oppose the rights of survivors of sexual abuse — but our system works best when decisions are made in the open, so voters know what their leaders stand for and can hold them accountable.

Mark Gallagher

Kailua

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