House Leaders Benninghoff and McClinton said Thursday they will try an emergency amendment process to get the measure before voters in the spring.
Some survivors and their advocates believe the quickest way to remedy the problem is to abandon the time-consuming path of amending the state constitution, and instead approve the two-year window through regular legislation.
The path for an amendment to become law in Pennsylvania is long. The language has to pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions, then go to voters for a referendum.
The Department of State did not advertise, as required, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would open a two-year window for litigation by survivors of child sexual abuse who have aged out of the statute of limitations for suing.
The bill now advances to a vote in the full House and, if it passes, will repeat the process in the Senate. Republicans command majorities in both chambers. Unlike a normal piece of legislation, it cannot be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
The GOP-controlled state legislature is trying to get voters to decide on as many of these constitutional changes as possible during the primary in May.
The House voted 102 to 95 on Wednesday for the proposal that would have lawmakers draw the district lines for Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts.
