FROM: Assemblywoman Margaret M. Markey
SUBJECT: Update from Albany, Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 16th will be the most important day in our five-year-long drive to make the Child Victims’ Act a law and I hope as many of you as possible will be present in Albany on this momentous day. During the legislative session next Tuesday, I will lead the debate about this landmark legislation on the floor and the full membership of the Assembly will vote on the bill.
The presence of many supporters and advocates in the Gallery of the Assembly Chamber will underscore the arguments my colleagues and I make during the debate. It will also send a clear message to the State Senate that there is a strong, diverse constituency committed to seeing this bill become law in 2009.
Thanks to the exhaustive lobbying efforts of dozens of dedicated supporters of the bill, most legislators are aware of what is at stake. Week after week, many committed men and women have made the trip to Albany over recent months to meet with members of both houses, or visit them in their district offices. These committed volunteers have educated them about the urgent need to provide justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse, and about how the Child Victims’ Act will protect children now and in the future by exposing predators who have been hidden. Our advocates also served as “truth squads” to debunk the hysterical and specious arguments raised by the most significant, organized opposition to the bill, the Catholic Conference of New York and its highly-paid lobbyists.
As we approach the debate and vote in the Assembly, I am looking ahead to the important next step: consideration and adoption of the Child Victims’ Act by the State Senate. The final nature of the leadership of the Senate is undetermined as I write this. However, I am reaching out to Senators who support the bill and leaders of both parties to make them aware of the importance of making this bill a “must” for consideration and vote during this session and I am optimistic we will succeed.
Volunteer lobbyists are also now reaching out to educate individual Senators about the bill and I urge all supporters of the bill to reach out to their Senators as well.
As we move into these few final days of the legislative session, I continue to be cautiously optimistic we will succeed in making the Child Victims’ Act a law in 2009. However, I am mindful that success this year is just a milestone in a continuing fight to expand this bill’s provisions and push for further meaningful reforms to provide justice for all childhood sexual abuse victims and additional protections for children.
I want to express my heart-felt thanks to all the hundreds of friends and supporters who have advocated this year this year on behalf of the Child Victims’ Act. Your dedication has been critical in moving the legislation closer to success and I am confident it will continue as we adopt the bill in the Assembly, then move on to consideration by the Senate later this month.
I hope you will join me in Albany on Tuesday, June 16th, as the Assembly takes up the bill.
Posts
