House committee hears bill to eliminate civil statute-of-limitations for sexual assault and child abuse claims

SALEM, Ore. — Lawmakers and advocates told the House Committee on Rules on May 14 that House Bill 3582 would remove civil statutes of limitation for future claims arising from child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault and would remove a legal phrase they said has been used to block accountability.

Supporters said the bill would allow survivors to bring civil claims when they are ready and would close a loophole created by language in current law. "These arbitrary deadlines don't reflect how healing works," said Representative Vanessa Hartman, the bill sponsor, during testimony in the committee.

The measure, with the dash-3 amendment described to the committee, removes the word "knowingly" from ORS 12.117 and ORS 12.118, language witnesses said has allowed some institutions to escape negligence claims even when there were clear patterns of abuse. The amendment also clarifies that claims arising before the bill's effective date…