A bill that would make it easier for the survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits took a step forward this week as Republicans included supportive language for the legislation in a budget resolution.

"We have to be talking to hospitals, nursing homes, school districts, the public sector and the private sector," said Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. "The ramifications are of such a magnitude that we have to take our time and be judicious and do it properly."

But the version included in the budget resolution is not the full Child Victims Act, which has been backed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in his budget proposal. And Senate Republicans are not committing to passing that bill.

"The budget he came out with had one version of the Child Victims Act, and then he made a massive expansion of that," Flanagan said.

The bill also received a boost this week from actor Corey Feldman, who revealed recently he too had been sexually assaulted.

"Every year, it's the Republican Senate that's pushing it back and not putting it through," Feldman said. "It's growing more and more frustrating, exasperating for all of us."

Advocates hope this year will be different for the bill amid a societal reckoning over sexual assault and misconduct.

"This is not a party issue," Feldman said. "We've all had kids who have been molested either in our families, molested in schools, molested in churches. We all have stories and someone connected to us personally."

But the bill is also one of several non-fiscal items ranging from changes to the state's tax structure and ethics reform that some lawmakers say do not need to be included in the budget.

"That's just going to take us way up close to the budget deadline and project us past the budget deadline," said Sen. Jim Tedisco (R - Glenville). "Those are not budget issues right now. Those are policy issues."

The budget is scheduled to pass by March 29.