The Maryland Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to allow victims of child sex abuse to file lawsuits at any point in their lives.

The change comes as the state awaits a report on decades of abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore to be made public.

Under current Maryland law, victims can only file lawsuits until they are 38 years old, which is 20 years after they become legal adults. The forthcoming report from the Maryland Attorney General’s office details abuse committed by priests over a roughly 80-year period, so removing the statute of limitations will allow far more victims to seek financial compensation.

How many more lawsuits are forthcoming isn’t known, but concerns about that were one of the last hurdles Senate supporters of the measure had to address.

Montgomery County Democratic State Sen. Will Smith told colleagues he worried that too many suits could bankrupt public schools or local governments and that caps were created for financial settlements in Maryland under the bill — $850,000 for those against public schools and institutions — and $1.5 million against private entities.

“Across the nation, I think the 22 states who have done this, there are no caps,” Smith told colleagues on the Senate floor Tuesday. “And they have not seen the type of radical exposure to fiscal liability and trouble that I think we are very rightly thinking about.”

The Senate must take a final vote on the bill this week, getting it to the House for approval ahead of Monday, March 20, an important deadline. Bills must pass at least one chamber by what’s known as Crossover Day to ensure they can pass the full General Assembly without having to go through additional legislative hoops that typically prevent passage.

Lawmakers will adjourn for the year on April 10.