Maryland state senator slams lack of urgency over ‘fiscal disaster’ from Child Victims Act – Baltimore Sun

One Maryland lawmaker is advocating for changes to the Child Victims Act of 2023, cautioning against a potential “fiscal disaster” as state budget officials say that there is no clear strategy to cover the likely billions in child sex abuse liabilities facing state taxpayers.

State Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, told Spotlight on Maryland on Wednesday that he is outraged by Annapolis’ lack of urgency in addressing what he called a quietly developing budget crisis.

“It is a self-inflicted fiscal disaster for our state,” Ready said. “The way the bill is drafted left taxpayers on the hook for an unlimited amount of liability for the state being sued for actions that took place in state facilities or county facilities 50, 60 years ago.”

“Instead of spending money on hospitals, roads, police, healthcare, education, we’re going to spend money on giving lawyers from California and New York, I guess, nicer, private jets,” Ready added.

The Maryland Department of Legislative Services briefed state Senate and House leaders during a joint hearing shortly after Spotlight on Maryland first reported on the potential billions in child sex abuse claims.

“About 3,500 people so far have come forward with claims against the state,” David Roman, an MDLS fiscal analyst, said. “Almost all of them were people who were in juvenile facilities going back as far as the 60s.”

“There is nothing in the budget to make any sort of settlement payments; however, it is very possible there will be a settlement reached before the end of session, and you all will be asked to find the money to make the first settlement payment, which could easily be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Roman added.

Ready said he was only one of two in the Senate that voted against the bill.

“It was probably the toughest vote that I have ever made because I would drive sexual abusers to the electric chair myself if I could,” Ready said. “The sponsor was threatening to anybody who he thought was messing with his bill.”

Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat and the bill’s sponsor in the House, said his legislation aimed to enable victims like himself to confront their abusers and the organizations that protect them in court.

“My goal was to never bankrupt the state,” Wilson said. “It’s unfortunate because it puts a bad spin on a heart-felt fight. I was never about money, but that seems to be what it’s all about.”

While Wilson said he did not have a solution to handle the expected multi-billion dollar liability for taxpayers, he took aim at plaintiff attorneys who will be pursuing child sex abuse cases against the state.

“I know there will have to be a line drawn in the sand just to make sure we survive as a state,” Wilson said. “A lot of time when you have these settlements, when you look at the actual payout to the individual, it’s minimal because the attorneys chew up all of the money.”

Ready said that he agrees with Wilson but faced significant criticism in 2023 from the legislator and the bill’s supporters for suggesting an amendment to limit legal fees to reduce the taxpayers’ costs.

“I felt that since these awards were going to be very large and involve lots of people, we ought to cap attorney fees. I suggested we cap attorney fees at 10%,” Ready said. “Unfortunately, that amendment was also voted down on the floor.”

Spotlight on Maryland sent several emails to Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office requesting more details on how his office intends to defend the state against claims. The attorney general’s office was also asked who is negotiating for his office and which firms are involved in lawsuits against state facilities.

“Our office has no comment,” Attorney General Brown’s spokesperson said.

Brown wrote a letter of support during the bill’s debate, saying that he believed the law was “not clearly unconstitutional.” Brown added his willingness to defend the legislation if it faced challenges in court.

Spotlight on Maryland asked Ready about what the Maryland General Assembly might do to fund settlement costs considering the state’s projected $3 billion shortfall. The longtime legislator paused before responding.