NEWLY ALL-POWERFUL DEMOCRATS AIM TO ADDRESS ONE OF PENNSYLVANIA’S MOST PAINFUL UNFINISHED ISSUES: They want to create a two-year window that allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to civilly sue their abusers and the institutions that shielded them, even if the statutes of limitations on these cases have long since expired. 

That retroactive window is part of a slate of policies the Democratic trifecta says it will prioritize, along with raising the minimum wage, boosting public transit funding, building more housing, and codifying abortion rights in the state constitution. 

And it demonstrates two dynamics that could shape coming debates as Democrats wield their trifecta.

First, powerful interests oppose or have quibbles with even popular policy changes. And second, after four years of the GOP-led Senate serving as a built-in roadblock to Democratic ambitions, the ruling party will need to fully puzzle through twisty policy conflicts that were previously hidden under partisan standoffs. 

The statute of limitations window offers a great example of how this might play out.