ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A bill lowering the cap on child sex abuse payouts aims to entice those working on a claim to file quickly.
The bill caps payouts at $700,000 for someone abused by a private entity, and $400,000 if the abuse happens by a public entity.
Delegate Luke Clippinger introduced an amendment clarifying that the bill will only apply to 'look back cases' filed after May 31st of this year.
"Claims that arise out of an occurrence that happened today still are subject to the $1.5 million and the $890,000 caps," said Clippinger.
These look back cases are people that were previously barred from bringing their case forward because of a statute of limitations.
This means anyone abused in the future can still sue for the original amount, $1.5 million in private cases or $890,000 in public cases, laid out in the Child Victims Act of 2023.
All this revolves around getting a clear picture of the state's liability in these look back claims.
"The numbers that DLS and others have put out is pretty staggering," said Delegate Jason Buckel.
"The goal is to be able to begin to define that number so that we can prepare for it, so the private entities can prepare for it," said Clippinger.
Based on Delegate Clippinger's number -- the state could be on the hook for more than $4 billion in payouts.
The legislation is a yes vote away from going to Maryland's senate, it needs to get through the chamber by midnight Monday to reach Governor Moore's desk.
