YONERS QUOTE: "New Yorkers overwhelmingly support the Child Victims Act that Senate Democrats have fought for years to advance and we will not allow a watered down version or a bill that lets predators avoid justice pass through the state Senate " said Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers)
ROUNDUP VIDEO: Senate Democrats say they won't provide a single vote for the bill pushed by Sen. Catharine Young (R-Cattaraugus County).
ALBANY: The Child Victims Act bill is now doomed, because Senate Republicans control the chamber by a razor-slim majority — and are hampered now by one senator's absence for military service.
he GOP bill would create a $300 million state fund using asset forfeiture money currently controlled by the Manhattan district attorney's office to provide restitution to those found by hearing officers to have credible claims of abuse.
Supporters say it would help a broader range of survivors not just those attacked in places like schools and religious institutions.
But Senate Democrats and many advocates say it would let predators off the hook and is designed to make it look like the GOP is doing something on the issue as they head into the fall elections.
"This is like a half-hearted attempt to push the issue off their plate " said Sen. Brad Hoylman a Manhattan Democrat who is pushing a more comprehensive version of the Child Victims Act. "It's cynical beyond because it is really toying with people's personal tragedies."
The Hoylman bill that already has passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly the past two years would extend the time survivors have to bring criminal and civil cases while opening a one-year window to revive old cases time-barred under current law.
"New Yorkers overwhelmingly support the Child Victims Act that Senate Democrats have fought for years to advance and we will not allow a watered down version or a bill that lets predators avoid justice pass through the state Senate " said Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers).
With just three scheduled days left in the legislative session the stalemate likely dooms chances of passage of a Child Victims Act survivors have sought for about a dozen years.
Some advocates say they will take their chances that the Democrats can win the Senate majority in the November elections and pass a full Child Victims Act when the new legislative session begins in January.Senate spokesman Scott Reif said the GOP conference is still discussing how to move forward on the issue.
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