FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: protectoregonrecreation@gmail.com, ekancler@icloud.com
February 24, 2026
Protect Oregon Recreation: SB 1517A Fails to Fix Oregon’s Insurance Crisis
SALEM, OR — Following today’s Senate vote on SB 1517A, Protect Oregon Recreation (POR) issued the following statement:
Some Senators have incorrectly stated that SB 1517A will make recreation “safe, affordable, and insurable.” Unfortunately, the bill does not restore meaningful waiver enforceability and will not resolve Oregon’s recreation insurance crisis. In fact, it is likely to make it worse.
The core issue facing Oregon recreation providers is simple: insurers require predictability. Oregon is the only Western state where normal recreational waivers are not broadly enforced. That legal instability has driven carriers from the state and resulted in dramatic premium increases for those that remain.
SB 1517A does not correct that instability.
Instead, the bill layers multiple conditions and exceptions onto waiver enforcement — exceptions that national insurers have already warned will undermine predictability and prevent meaningful relief. Indeed, these exceptions are so broad that the circumstances in which a waiver will actually be enforced will be exceedingly rare.
In written testimony to the Legislature:
- Safehold Sports confirmed it exited Oregon due to the state’s litigation climate and warned SB 1517A would not solve the crisis.
- MountainGuard Insurance stated the bill contains exceptions that would swallow enforceability.
- Independent claims executive Adam Bunge reported that major carriers have written off Oregon and SB 1517A will not encourage them to return.
When the very insurers legislators claim they hope to attract tell the legislature that SB 1517A will not incentivize them to return to Oregon, that warning deserves serious consideration.
POR has never sought immunity for gross negligence or reckless conduct. All of Oregon’s peer states preserve accountability for serious misconduct while allowing enforceable waivers. Comprehensive reform proposals introduced this session (SB1593 and HB4071) would align Oregon with those states and restore stability.
SB 1517A does not do that.
Rather than addressing the structural insurance problem, the bill appears designed to preserve as many avenues for trial attorneys to continue to enrich themselves at the expense of Oregon providers and Oregon consumers as possible. In that sense, the tail is wagging the dog: instead of listening to the many voices of Oregonians who support reforming the liability environment to stabilize insurance markets, aligning Oregon with its peer states, the legislation prioritizes exceptions that insurers have already said make Oregon an unacceptable market.
The result will be continued carrier contraction, higher premiums, larger deductibles, and increased costs passed on to Oregon families, youth programs, and rural communities. Why would the legislature work so hard to reinvent the wheel, when it doesn’t even solve the clearly defined problem at hand?
“The Senate’s passage of SB 1517A after it was universally opposed by a coalition of our state’s largest nonprofit recreation and conservation groups, and after the insurers made clear it will not change the market is more than disappointing,” said Glenn Fee, Executive Director of Tualatin Riverkeepers. “We have been asking the legislature for the relief that will help us accomplish our missions to protect Oregon’s valuable natural resources. This is not relief”, he continued.
The House now has an opportunity to review the full record, listen to Oregonians who have spoken out in favor of common sense reform, and pursue reform that genuinely restores predictability while preserving accountability for gross negligence.
Oregon’s outdoor economy depends on getting this right.
