In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Alabama legislature unanimously passed a bill, known as the Scout’s Honor bill, to allow people who were sexually abused as Boy Scouts to receive damages.

SB 18, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, passed the House on Thursday by a vote of 100-0 with two abstentions from Reps. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, and Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham. It passed the Senate last month by a vote of 34-0.

“We’re just trying to get these men a baseline amount of help, so that maybe they can get therapy for a year or two and get their feet under them. That’s it. That’s all that’s all we’re trying to do and that’s all we’re trying to do with SB18,” said Gill Gayle, who advocated for the bill and was victimized by two Scoutmasters in Alabama in the 1970s.

The bill, which now awaits Gov. Kay Ivey’s signature, temporarily lifts the state’s statute of limitations so that victims of the Boy Scouts can receive damages from the Scouting Settlement Trust, a $2.6 billion fund that was established last year after the Boy Scouts of America filed bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy and settlement came in response to over 80,000 men who filed lawsuits against the Boy Scouts claiming they had faced sexual abuse as children by troop leaders.

According to the Boy Scouts and the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice, this is the largest sexual abuse settlement fund in U.S. history.

The fund would allow victims of sexual abuse to receive between $3,500 and $2.7 million. In Alabama, there are about 1,500-2,000 survivors of sexual abuse by Boy Scout leaders who have filed claims against the trust, according to Coleman and victims.

The federal court has placed an April 21 deadline on any claims to the settlement trust, meaning Ivey must sign the bill into law before then in order for survivors to receive a fair amount.

If it’s not signed in time, victims in Alabama would receive somewhere between 1% to 10% of what people will receive in states that have lifted their statute of limitations.

“There’s a lot of urgency with this legislation,” Gayle said. “The one thing that never goes away is what happened…it’s a recurring nightmare that you can’t get rid of – no without help and all we’re trying to do here is get help.”

For more information on how to file a claim, visit the Scouting Settlement Trust site.