House committee adopts amendment expanding landowner liability for unregistered farmworker camps

The House Committee on Rules on June 12 adopted amendments to House Bill 3,194 that expand civil liability for landowners whose property is used as unregistered farmworker camps and sent the bill to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation.

The measure, as described to the committee by a legislative staff member, would create joint and several liability for landowners and farmworker camp operators who violate farmworker camp operator requirements unless the landowner delegated authority to a camp operator and had no actual knowledge or reason to know of the operator's noncompliance. The amended language before the committee (dash 6) also creates a rebuttable presumption that a landowner did not know and could not reasonably have known about an unregistered camp if the landowner provides a written lease that expressly prohibits such activity by the lessee.

The nut graf: supporters say the changes give aggrieved people broader ability to recover damages and seek injunctions for violations related to farmworker camps; the amendment increases statutory damages from $500 to $2,000 per violation or actual damages, whichever is greater. Committee members worked through a procedural question during the meeting that resulted in the committee adopting a different amendment than the one initially moved.

Committee discussion focused on whether ordinary single-family housing used by farmworkers would be swept up by the measure. Martha Soneta, legislative advocate at the Oregon Law Center, told the committee the registration statute (referred to at the hearing as the camp operator registration act) applies only to unregistered camp operations and does not require registration of single-family housing that may be provided to farmworkers and their families. Jenny Dressler of the Oregon Farm Bureau reiterated that the core definition is specific and that the bill is intended to affect only unregistered farmworker camps.

After an initial parliamentary issue—committee members first moved dash 2 amendments that were later ruled out of order because they had not been posted for review—the chair entertained and the committee adopted the dash 6 amendments and then moved the bill as amended to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. Representative Pam Marsh was announced to carry the bill on the floor.

The measure increases available damages and expands standing for aggrieved parties to file suit for violations related to farmworker camps. The committee record shows proponents and opponents met to negotiate amendment language, and committee members said there was no recorded opposition in the room after that negotiation.

The committee closed the work session after the vote. The bill will now proceed to the House floor for further consideration.