Prospects are dimming in the legislature to employ a rarely used, emergency tactic so voters can decide this spring whether survivors of decades-old sexual abuse should have a chance to sue perpetrators, Spotlight PA reports.

State House lawmakers left the Capitol on Wednesday without a final vote on a measure that would have resurrected the hard-fought referendum on whether to give those survivors, who are time-barred under the statute of limitations, a two-year reprieve to pursue civil litigation.

GOP leaders positioned the bill for a potential final vote next week, after Democrats publicly lambasted them for refusing to take action.

"They have absolutely no courage to do the right thing," said Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks), a survivor of child sexual abuse who has been at the forefront of efforts to pass the two-year reprieve. "I don’t believe these politicians deserve to be in this building."

THE CONTEXT: The question was initially set to be decided by voters in the May primary. But in a stunning admission last month, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration acknowledged that it had failed to take the proper administrative steps to get the referendum on the ballot, devastating survivors and their advocates who have waited years for a resolution.

The mistake forced the resignation of the state’s top election official and prompted an investigation by the state’s inspector general.

Even if the House negotiates a deal in the coming days, the measure still has to pass the Senate. Republican leaders there have not committed to backing it, and some GOP senators have raised concerns about whether creating the two-year reprieve in the statute of limitations amounts to an emergency.