Source: marylandmatters.org 1/20/25
Potential settlement could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions, potentially billions for 3,500 cases involving allegations of sexual abuse against state agencies
An effort by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to resolve a $3 billion budget deficit could be hampered by hundreds of millions — potentially billions — in settlements related to a 2023 law that eliminated statutory limits on lawsuits filed by survivors of child sexual abuse.
News of the potential liability under the Child Victims Act of 2023 came at the same meeting where members of the House Appropriations and Senate Budget and Taxation committees were told they will likely have to find another $181 million in cuts to Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget to meet recommendations set by a joint legislative committee in December.
“This is potentially an enormous liability to the state,” David Romans, a Department of Legislative Services budget analyst, told the committees. “The Attorney General’s office has employed outside counsel and they are negotiating with plaintiffs’ counsel.”
Romans did not provide a public estimate of the potential liability to the state, noting that many factors could affect the size of the settlement, which could include payments over an unknown period.
“There’s nothing in the budget to make any sort of settlement payments,” Romans said. “However, it’s very possible that there will be a settlement reached before the end of session, and you all may be asked to find the money to make the first settlement payment, which could very easily be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We have no specific dollar amount. It’s something just to be aware of,” he said.
The Office of the Attorney General was closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But when Maryland Matters reached out on this issue late last year, a spokeswoman said the office does not comment on ongoing negotiations and litigation.
Legislative analysts told the committees that the Attorney General’s Office has hired outside counsel to negotiate a settlement of as many as 3,500 cases involving allegations of sexual abuse against state agencies. Romans said the “claims against the state, almost all the people who were in juvenile facilities going back as far as the 1960s.”
