An embattled bill to buoy health, recreation and fitness businesses that are facing rising lawsuits and insurance rates is advancing in the Oregon Legislature.

State leaders reached a deal on Senate Bill 1517 — which would restore the legal authority of liability waivers in Oregon — Tuesday evening after hours of negotiations. The bill passed unanimously through the House Committee on Rules on Wednesday.

“We have been in the middle of this for a long time and a lot of hours and believe this is a good Oregon solution,” said Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford.

Signing a waiver acknowledges you’re taking a risk and won’t sue a business for negligence. A 2014 Oregon Supreme Court ruling made them unenforceable. Other Western states recognize such waivers.

A previous version of the bill included a variety of exceptions that would allow people to sue if they signed a waiver. Those exceptions drew the ire of industry leaders who claimed they would render such waivers effectively useless, paving the way for frivolous lawsuits that have dogged the industry in recent years.

Lawmakers have landed on an amended bill that tightens those exceptions, among other changes.

“I think everybody’s a little unhappy, and that’s OK,” state Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, said of the amended bill. “That’s what a negotiation is.”

Under the bill, customers would still be able to sue under certain circumstances. Those include incidents involving improper maintenance or inspection of safety equipment; negligent safety-related training of a worker; abuse or physical or sexual assault; negligent hiring, training, credentialing, supervision, or retention of an employee; or the operation or use of vehicles.

Without waivers, lawmakers and industry groups say businesses are at risk of frivolous lawsuits, keeping insurance companies from doing business in Oregon. If the Legislature doesn’t act, they say the insurance woes could worsen, possibly making it less affordable for Oregonians to ski, raft, work out and more.

The legislative push to restore waivers prompted debate between industries and trial lawyers over how to balance Oregonians’ rights to sue with the wellbeing of businesses that make up a multi-billion-dollar health, recreation and fitness industry.

The economic and political stakes have resulted in extensive talks behind the scenes.

“I feel like we are on the precipice of an insurance crisis, especially when we are beholden to for-profit, private insurance,” said Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend.

Kropf said business owners in his district — which includes a variety of outdoor recreation businesses like the Mount Bachelor ski area — are facing steep increases in insurance rates despite decades of work without legal claims.

“I hope this relieves some pressure for the businesses that I love in my area,” Kropf said.

The newly amended bill comes after negotiations hit an impasse earlier this week. A previous version of the bill sought to focus specifically on ski resorts, but is now applicable to a broader range of health, recreation and fitness businesses.

The bill now heads to the floor of the House of Representatives.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/04/oregon-bill-enforce-waivers-gyms-ski-resorts-advances/