A bill to fix a technicality that threatens to dismiss many cases filed by survivors of sexual abuse may stall in the New York state Assembly. 

The state's top court dismissed a Child Victims Act lawsuit earlier this year after justices argued a man's claim of child-sex abuse at a state-run theater in the late '80s lacked sufficient information to bring the claim against the state.

State senators passed legislation last week to prevent cases filed under the Child Victims or Adult Survivors acts — which created lookback windows for survivors to file civil lawsuits against their abuser — from being tossed out on technicalities that require them to remember the exact date and time of their abuse.

But Assembly leaders have one day left to bring the proposal to the floor and close the loophole that's preventing survivors from getting justice.

"I never give up until it's over, and it's not over yet," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who sponsored both original laws and the bill. "...you still have to prove your case, and provide details about when it happened. I think we owe it to them to continue to getting them to the place where they can carry it all the way through to the end."

Rosenthal said her remedy bill would create a new set of standards so cases filed under the CVA or ASA do not need to specify the time or date of the alleged abuse to be considered, and would mirror civil court standards.

The state Senate passed the bill last week, but the Assembly is often more hesitant to pass bills which could open the state to litigation.

Rosenthal said it's unclear how many cases have been unnecessarily dismissed since the March ruling, but legal experts have told her it will impact many of the thousands filed. That's why, she added, she'll fight until assemblymembers leave Albany for the year Tuesday night.

"The opportunity is now," she said. "I think it's a matter of timing, so I'm still trying to push. The Republicans are eating up precious hours debating six-line bills because they want to cause us not to pass everything we want."

Last week, a bill was included in the slate of prison reforms that cleared both houses, which gives people in state custody at least three years to file a notice of claim of abuse. Current state law requires a person in state custody to report abuse within 90 days.

Formerly incarcerated New Yorkers filed over 1,500 cases under the Adult Survivors Act, or about half of the statewide total.

"It is difficult enough for someone who is not incarcerated to remember when they've been abused, let alone someone who in the system right now and doesn't have the means to get an attorney or mental health services to deal with the trauma," said Assembly sponsor Catalina Cruz.

Donna Hylton, of Brooklyn, served 27 years in the state prison system. She has a pending case under the Adult Survivors Act alleging her endured sexual abuse as an adolescent from a female prison captain at Rikers Island, and by a male prison guard at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.

She said both bills are critical to giving survivors time to process what happened before seeking justice.

"It takes years," Hylton told Spectrum News 1 on Monday. "Trauma is layered. It takes years. It doesn't just happen and go away overnight. It takes time as everything else is in healing — just like a wound."

A spokesperson with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's office said Monday night that leadership has not determined if the bill to amend the Court of Claims Act will reach the floor for a vote.

Gary Greenberg, a survivor of childhood sexual assault from Greene County, spearheaded the movement to pass the Child Victims Act, and said victims are calling on Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to move the bill to the floor.

"For far too long in New York state, victims of child-sex abuse have been on the short end of the stick," he said, adding time is of the essence because of the recent ruling. "...It’s the responsibility of the state Senate, the Assembly and the governor to immediately come up with a remedy to help these victims."

Senate sponsor Brad Hoylman-Sigal also is putting the pressure on Heastie to move the bill in the lower chamber before leaving Albany for the year.

"The goal of the CVA and ASA was always to allow survivors to have their day in court and our legislation will help make that happen for hundreds of New Yorkers," the senator said in a statement Monday. "I am hopeful that the Assembly will now follow suit and pass this bill before their session ends so that survivors of sexual abuse will not be forced to recall the exact details of their most traumatic moments just to have their cases heard.”