SB6080 - landowner liability protection

Legislation has been introduced to give property owners better liability protection. This will make it harder for people to successfully sue them if a rider gets hurt riding on their property.

That is a big concern for many property owners that might otherwise allow us to ride on their land.

While by itself this won’t cause locked gates to fly open, it is an important step in that direction.

At the request of the NMA and WOHVA, Senator Haugen has sponsored SB6080.


Other co-sponsors are Senators
Swecker, Hargrove, King, Fain, Ranker, Ericksen, Becker, Hill and Honeyford.

See link:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6080&year=2011

This adds new language that I wrote a year or two ago.


Please encourage your State Senator to support SB6080.


If you don’t know who they are or how to contact them go to:

www.leg.wa.gov




Example message.
Use it or better yet, modify it to make it your own (that really helps)




Dear Senator xxx,


I am writing you today to request that you support Senate Bill SB6080.

SB6080 is regarding landowner immunity from liability for nonintentional injuries to recreational users.

This bill would slightly modify liability laws [/font][color=black][font='Arial']to provide additional protection to land owners that allow recreational access to their land.

As it stands today, many landowners do not allow public access to their land because they are afraid of getting sued.

If simple things like road maintenance, agricultural and logging activities are exempted from recreational access liability laws it would go along ways toward gaining new recreational land access.

Currently anything the land owner does to his property could leave them open to being sued if they allow people to recreate on their land.

Since the State is reducing recreational access to the public land in manages due to the current budget crisis, this could help offset that loss and not cost the state any money at all.

Please vote yes on SB6080!

thanks for posting here too. Letter sent just now!

Testified before the Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee today.
Seemed to go well.
Committee should take executive action (vote on it) later this week.
If it passes there, it will probably be refered to the Senate Rules Committee before it can move to the full Senate.

What exactly does this mean...failed to make cutoff date?

"This legislation failed to make the cutoff date and reach a vote on the Senate floor. Though this does not mean SB 6080 is dead, in all likelihood it will not get further consideration this session unless necessary to implement the budget (NTIB)."

Inspector wrote:

What exactly does this mean...failed to make cutoff date?

"This legislation failed to make the cutoff date and reach a vote on the Senate floor. Though this does not mean SB 6080 is dead, in all likelihood it will not get further consideration this session unless necessary to implement the budget (NTIB)."

The Legislature has a session calendar that cuts off bills that don't progress quick enough.

While it is not a law, but merely a rule that the Legislature adopts every year, unless you are special your bill will be ignored for the rest of the year.


NTIB = Necessary To Imnpliment Budget

This year's cutoff calendar link:

http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature/pages/cutoff.aspx