Editorial: The Department of State's failure has many hands

Success is rarely something that happens alone.

When the Steelers win a game, it’s not just because of the quarterback. When the jury returns a verdict, it’s not just because of the judge. When government makes a law, there is never just one guy who made that happen.

And by the same token, we should remember that failure cuts the same way.

Take the announcement Monday about the Pennsylvania Department of State. It failed to complete a simple administrative task that would allow a proposed constitutional amendment to advance. The amendment permits a two-year window for litigation by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, outside of the statute of limitations.

Pennsylvania has had child sexual abuse problems for years that have drawn attention to substantive changes that needed to be made in how we protect our kids. The Jerry Sandusky case put the national spotlight on Penn State in 2011. In the ensuing 10 years, the state has made changes in training, in background checks and in reporting.

In 2018, the spotlight turned on decades of institutional abuse and cover-up by the Catholic Church, thanks to a grand jury report that looked at dioceses across the state. The Altoona-Johnstown and Philadelphia dioceses already had been subject to their own investigations. The result was a huge number of known victims of a long line of priests. Most of the victims have long since become legal adults.

While the church settled with many of the victims, the state’s job was to look forward. How would this be prevented in the future? The answer was to change the law via a constitutional amendment. That got started in the 2019-20 legislative session. The next step was for the Department of State to advertise it when each chamber voted, clearing the way for a 2021 ballot question.

That didn’t happen. It should have. It didn’t. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar fell on her sword Monday, taking responsibility for the failure. It is to her credit that she did not pass the buck.

But it is disingenuous for other officials to point and blame.

The Department of State has been undeniably busy over the last year, concerned with a contentious election and a radical shift in how it was being conducted, not to mention the subsequent lawsuits.

Oh, yes, State should have remembered what to do with a constitutional amendment since the last such ballot question — Marsy’s Law — was just in front of voters, in November 2019. But in a state with so much government, and an issue that had so many hands involved, was there really no one else who thought to ask if the ad got placed?

Everyone took their victory laps at different points along the way. Everyone wanted credit for their small individual success, making it seem like the law wouldn’t have passed if it wasn’t for Attorney General Josh Shapiro or for the Senate or the House or the victim advocate. Everyone was happy to be Ben Roethlisberger — until the ball was dropped.

Boockvar’s office screwed up. No doubt. And victims are going to be the ones to pay for it, unless proposed legislative solutions could save the day.

But if those solutions succeed, before anyone claims the win, they should be prepared to acknowledge their part in a loss, too.