Lawmaker Denies Pressure from Catholic Church to Oppose Bill

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTAQ) – State Senate Democrat Jim Sullivan denies being pressured by the Catholic Church to oppose a bill that would have ended the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits.

A group for priest abuse victims publicized a lobbyist’s e-mail, which quoted Sullivan as saying he opposed the bill because he gets Communion every Sunday and he wants to keep it that way. But Sullivan, a Wauwatosa Democrat, said he didn’t mean that the church threatened to withhold Communion if he favored the bill.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese was among those saying the measure would bankrupt the church. Sullivan said he didn’t want to be responsible for that – and he was concerned that defendants in child sex abuse cases would lose their rights to due process. The archdiocese denied putting any pressure on individual lawmakers to kill the bill, which was called the Child Victims Act. It failed to get to the floor in each of the last 2 legislative sessions, and supporters said they would try again next year.