HB 462An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in limitation of time, further providing for infancy, insanity or imprisonment; in matters affecting government units, further providing for exceptions to sovereign immunity and for exceptions to governmental immunity; and making a repeal.

Latest change summary

+67 / −1378 words · LargeConfidence: high

This bill substantially rolls back previously enacted provisions related to civil actions for childhood sexual abuse by eliminating tolling rules, revival windows, and immunity exceptions. The changes remove the two-year revival window for expired sexual abuse claims by individuals abused as minors, eliminate the tolling provision that allowed unemancipated minors the full statutory period after turning 18, and delete exceptions to both Commonwealth sovereign immunity and local governmental immunity for sexual abuse claims and related negligence. The bill also removes definitions of sexual abuse, sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, indecent contact, and forcible compulsion that had been established for these civil actions. Additionally, the legislation eliminates retroactive application provisions that would have revived time-barred claims, removes limitations on which actions could benefit from these provisions, and deletes procedural provisions including Supreme Court extraordinary jurisdiction for constitutional challenges and a nonseverability clause.