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State Representative Steve Huffman
House Bill 80:
Supporting Ohio’s Number One Industry
As Ohio’s number one industry, agriculture is incredibly important to
the well-being of our state. I am pleased to report that the Ohio House
of Representatives recently passed House Bill 80, a piece of
legislation designed to protect the budding agritourism industry.
Agritourism is any agriculturally related educational, entertainment,
historical, cultural, or recreational activity conducted on a farm that
is open to members of the public.
The main purpose of this bill is to protect Ohio’s farmers from
unjustified litigation. This legislation, sponsored by my colleague
State Representative Tony Burkley, would give agritourism providers a
general immunity from liability in a civil action for any harm a
participant sustains during an agritourism activity, if the participant
is harmed as a result of a risk inherent in the activity.
HB 80 is supported by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, which is a great
indicator that this bill will support Ohio’s agriculture industry. I
take advocating for agriculture seriously, and I am confident that this
bill is beneficial for the farmers I represent in Miami and Darke
counties.
Another provision of the bill prevents counties and townships from
adopting unnecessarily burdensome zoning laws that prohibit agritourism
activities. The General Assembly’s effort to ensure that agritourism
activities will be available for recreational and educational purposes
in communities across the state not only benefits farmers, but also the
general public.
House Bill 80 passed the House unanimously last month and is currently
being evaluated in the Senate. I hope to see this bill move through the
legislative process so that we can help encourage agritourism in our
state by protecting Ohio’s farmers from unjustified litigation.
As your state representative, I encourage you to contact me regarding
this or any other state government related issue. By working together,
we can continue to support Ohio’s number one industry.
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