CEO DATELINE - Business groups urge Congress to oppose commercializing rest stops
CEO DATELINE - Business groups urge Congress to oppose commercializing rest stops
- June 15, 2017 |
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Walt Williams
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Thirteen groups want federal lawmakers to resist commercializing U.S. Interstate rest stops as Congress considers infrastructure legislation.
In a June 13 letter sent to House and Senate leaders, the groups said the Trump administration's proposal to allow the sale of food, fuel and other services at rest stops would siphon away business from communities that depend on travelers to bolster their economies.
The proposal also would create unfair competitive advantage by giving states the ability to grant contracts to businesses to provide services at rest stops, which would provide the companies direct access to motorists, the groups said.
"If the government gets in the business of selling food and fuel or other commercial services, local communities will suffer as tax revenues shift to the state; hard-working business owners will lose their customer base; blind entrepreneurs will be out of work and truck drivers will have a harder time finding a safe place to rest," said Lisa Mullings, CEO of NATSO, an association representing travel plazas and truckstops.
Cities and towns would lose critical funding for road maintenance, building schools and other infrastructure needs if rest stop commercialization is allowed, said Clarence Anthony, CEO of the National League of Cities.
"Such a move would risk flatlining local property tax revenues, especially impacting the hundreds of small cities and rural communities whose economies depend on highway travelers," Anthony said.
The letter's other signatories are the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, International Franchise Association, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Automatic Merchandising Association, National Council of Chain Restaurants, National Federation of the Blind, National Franchisee Association, National Restaurant Association, National Tank Truck Carriers, Petroleum Marketers Association of America and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America. http://bit.ly/2rAhOU9
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