April 5, 2017

The Honorable Bill Shuster The Honorable Peter DeFazio

Chairman Ranking Member
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member DeFazio:

The below signed associations, which represent hundreds of thousands of mostly small businesses with
locations in every congressional district, urge you to oppose H.R. 1990, recently introduced by
Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN), that would open up Interstate rest areas for business and unfairly
compete with established businesses at the exits in your state and across the nation. While we understand
the budget challenges many states face, and the need for more infrastructure revenue, H.R. 1990 is ill
conceived and ultimately counter-productive.

Infrastructure legislation should be designed to create jobs. H.R. 1990 would eliminate jobs for small
businesses along our nations highways.

When Congress created the Interstate Highway System in 1956, Congress and community leaders feared
that local businesses, jobs, and tax bases would shrink as motorists and truck drivers bypassed their cities
and towns. For this reason, Congress prohibited new Interstate System rest areas from offering
commercial services, such as food and convenience items. Since then, businesses have clustered near the
Interstates at the interchanges to provide these services to Interstate travelers.

Today, a drive along the nations Interstate highways demonstrates the wisdom of Congresss decision.
There are approximately 100,000 businesses located less than a quarter-mile from the Interstate at exit
interchanges, directly marketing to highway travelers. These businesses employ more than two million
people and contribute more than $20 billion annually in state and local taxes.

Allowing state governments to start selling food and convenience items directly on the shoulder of the
Interstate will put restaurants, convenience stores, travel plazas and truckstops at a major disadvantage.
These businesses rely on customers who exit the Interstate. If the government-controlled rest area enters
this business, it will take sales away from these businesses based solely on its preferential location on the
Interstate right-of-way.

A recent study from Virginia Tech demonstrates that this policy will not increase economic activity;
people will not buy more hamburgers or soft drinks. Instead, it will simply transfer these sales away
from the current competitive environment at highway exits to the government-run rest area. In essence, it
would divert tax revenue currently enjoyed by off-highway towns and counties to the state.

Expanding commercial services at rest areas would hurt consumers, small businesses, and localities. It
would also undercut other congressional objectives, such as increasing truck parking capacity and
alternative fuel infrastructure options, both of which would be aided by participation from travel plazas
and gas stations that are not financially battered by unfair competition from not-for-profit government
agencies.

On top of this, it would devastate the blind community, which currently enjoys a priority for installing
and operating vending machines at Interstate rest areas. Many blind entrepreneurs throughout the country
rely on this exception to the ban on rest area commercialization to earn a living, support their families,
and realize the American dream. If HR. 1990 became law, all of these entrepreneurs would be out of
work virtually overnight.

H.R. 1990 would create far more problems than it will solve. States and local communities will suffer
when exit-based businesses and the jobs they support have to cut workers and potentially close. The
towns and counties that rely on those businesses for local tax revenues will be challenged to make up the
lost tax revenues they rely on from those businesses as well.

We strongly urge you to oppose Congressman Bankss bill.

Sincerely,

National Federation of the Blind

National Association of Convenience Stores
National Association of Truck Stop Operators
National Council of Chain Restaurants
Petroleum Marketers Association of America
Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America

cc: Members of U.S. House of Representatives