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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 7, 2019 02:43 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Ryan P. Aument |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Agritourism Liability Protection |
| In the near future, I intend to reintroduce legislation that would provide some protection from civil liability for owners and operators of agritourism activities. Because many activities involved in the agritourism business are frequently not covered by customary farm liability policies, farmers face a number of challenges in securing adequate coverage. Under current Pennsylvania law, these entrepreneurial farmers face enormous liability risks when opening up their land to the public. Agritourism activities involve inherent risks that are impossible to eliminate. It is only reasonable that those who choose to participate in these activities should voluntarily assume part of that risk. My proposal aims to protect owners from lawsuits where no party is at fault for the injury or damages. While the measure provides immunity from litigation in some cases, the right to sue is preserved if an owner is grossly negligent, displays willful or reckless disregard for the safety of the participant or intentionally causes injury. A similar proposal was introduced as Senate Bill 820 of the 2017-2018 legislative session and was co-sponsored by: Senators Eichelberger, Yaw, Folmer, Rafferty, K. Ward, Stefano, Vogel, Reschenthaler, White, Vulakovich, McIlhinney, Martin, and Brookes. If you have any questions regarding this bill, please contact Stephanie Buchanan at 717-787-4420 or sbuchanan@pasen.gov. |
Introduced as SB711