New York state legislators have introduced a bill, named the Rest Stop Restaurant Act, that “would require food and beverage companies contracted to provide services along the Thruway and at the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey to stay open seven days a week,” ABC 7 reports.

Chick-fil-A, known for closing every Sunday, have multiple locations the legislation would impact.

“As of now, there are seven Chick-fil-A locations on the New York State Thruway, with three more scheduled to be built,” ABC 7 wrote.

The legislation wants restaurants at travel stops to be open seven days a week for the “public good.”

NewsNation provided further details:

“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the bill states.

“Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas,” it added.

The legislation specifically identifies Chick-fil-A for being closed on Sundays.

“Applegreen’s portfolio of companies include Chick-fil-A, which by company policy is closed on Sundays, and which has already opened at seven service areas,” it reads.

ABC 7 reports:

One of the bill’s sponsors, Assemblyman Tony Simone, spoke to ABC News Albany affiliate WTEN about the importance of ensuring that New York State’s transportation facilities offer reliable food services.

“You know, we get hungry when we’re traveling. We may not like our brother-in-law or sister-in-law’s cooking and wanna get a snack on Christmas Eve,” Simone said. “To find one of the restaurants closed on the thruway is just not in the public good.”

WTEN also reports that a Thruway official who also spoke with them said that, regarding the bill, “all 27 service areas that were a part of the $450 million project were built with no toll or tax dollars and that Chick-fil-A already signed a 33-year contract with the Thruway.”

Simone clarified that “the Thruways are meant to serve New York travelers first,” adding that he thinks it’s “ridiculous” that a food provider would be “able to close on Sunday – one of the busiest travel days of the week.”

“New York Democrats are making it harder for Chick-fil-A to follow their religious principles,” Newsmax noted.

“Liberals hate Christianity so much they want to make it illegal for Chik-fil-A to be closed on Sundays to provide employees a day of rest,” Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk commented.

Per Newsmax:

New York Democrat lawmakers are targeting fast food giant Chick-fil-A, which is closed on Sundays, with legislation that mandates restaurants located in rest stops on the state Thruway or operated by the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey to remain open seven days a week.

“Not only does Chick-fil-A have a long shameful history of opposing LGBTQ rights, it simply makes no sense for them to be a provider of food services in busy travel plazas,” Assemblyman Tony Simone, D-Manhattan, the lawmaker sponsoring the legislation, said in a statement, Syracuse’s Spectrum News reported. “A company, that by policy, is closed on one of the busiest travel days of the week should not be the company that travelers have to rely on for food services.”

Chick-fil-A has had a company policy since first opening in 1946 that the restaurants would be closed on Sundays to allow operators and team members “to enjoy a day of rest, be with their families and loved ones, and worship if they choose.”

With the remodel of the 27 rest stops on the Thruway, new vendors have moved into travel plazas, including Chick-fil-A, which is occupying 10 of the 27 restaurant spaces.

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