Bill to help IA Boy Scouts get sex abuse settlement money unlikely to pass before deadline

DES MOINES — It appears Iowa Boy Scouts who are owed compensation as part of a national sexual abuse settlement likely won't get the money due to them after the Iowa House's failure to act on a bill that would've ensured those payments.

The Iowa Senate passed a bill to extend the statute of limitations specifically for those Boy Scouts only, but the measure has stalled in the House and the deadline to change the law is Friday.

Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley told Iowa's News Now last week he didn't expect to come to a resolution on it, saying it's a big change that could have unintended consequences.

But Senate Democrats say the consequences of not acting are already known.

"They should be ashamed of themselves," Iowa Senator Janet Petersen (D) Des Moines said. "Are we going to let another chamber worry about contracts from insurance companies that aren't even impacted by the hundreds of Iowans who are a part of this national case?"

Even if the Iowa House does an about-face, the governor would have to sign the measure Friday in order for Iowa Boy Scouts to get what they're owed.