NFIB in Kansas Grateful for Extended Liability Reform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dan Murray, NFIB State Director in Kansas, 913-940-4218 or Emily Carlson, Senior Media Manager, 907-891-4331 or emily.helland@nfib.org

TOPEKA, January 22, 2021 – The National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB here in Kansas, with more than 4,000 small business members in Kansas, applauded the legislature for extending important liability reform. On Thursday, the House passed bill that will give Kansas small businesses protection from liability to customers and other third-parties unless those customers or parties prove the business knowingly failed to develop and implement a reasonable plan for reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and that failure caused the injury.

The liability was set to expire at the end of the month. This new legislation will extend the liability until the end of March.

“As small business owners across America continue the process of reopening and operating in the COVID-19 environment, it’s imperative that we maintain protections from the threat of lawsuits that exploit the already damaging effects of COVID-19,” said Dan Murray, NFIB State Director in Kanas. “According to our survey’s results, small business owners are concerned about increases in liability claims when reopening their businesses. In fact, this survey released last year showed that nearly 70% of small business owners are concerned about liability claims increases, while only 6% are not at all concerned.

The extension of these protections provide confidence to small business owners that they can continue to open up and work without fear of costly legal battles.  NFIB Kansas and small business owners were very appreciative of last year’s bipartisan effort to provide protections and certainty for the business community. We strongly support the extension of the business and product liability protections and urge the governor to sign the bill.