Protesters blocking roads could cost states federal highway funds under new bill

A Republican lawmaker introduced a new bill that would penalize states that fail to take action against protesters blocking roadways by withholding federal highway funds.

The bill was shared exclusively with FOX Business and was introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., in response to the increasing frequency with which protesters are blocking highways and roads in an effort to advance their cause.

The legislation — known as the Clear the Reckless Obstructions and Dangers on Streets Act, or the Clear the ROADS Act — would withhold 10% of a state's federal highway funding if it hasn't made reasonable efforts to prohibit the reckless obstruction of lawful vehicle traffic on highways eligible for federal aid.

"We have seen this dangerous and frustrating tactic being used more often by protesters across the nation," Huizenga told FOX Business. "For everyone's safety, we should use this appropriate tool to send a clear message to the protesters as well as state officials who are supposed to be enforcing the law."

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Under the bill, the secretary of transportation would be required to make an annual certification as to whether a state has met the requirement to take reasonable actions to prevent protesters from blocking roadways before the Department of Transportation apportions federal highway funding. 

States are currently required to meet certain criteria as a condition of receiving federal highway funding, and such standards are typically used to promote basic road safety and traffic laws, the lawmaker's announcement noted.

The Clear the ROADS Act has been endorsed by Heritage Action and the America First Policy Institute, according to Huizenga's office.

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The bill comes in response to a number of cases in which protesters blocked highways, often during rush hour traffic, to unfurl banners across the lanes of traffic or otherwise obstruct the flow of traffic. 

In some cases, protesters have glued themselves to the asphalt to make it harder for enraged commuters or law enforcement to remove them from the street. 

Those protests have come in support of a variety of causes, with climate change activists resorting to blocking highways in the name of ending the use of fossil fuels, while anti-Israel demonstrators and civil rights advocates have also deployed the tactic.

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In recent months, anti-Israel protesters have disrupted traffic in major cities including Washington, D.C.; New York City; Los Angeles; and San Francisco, among others.

Protesters blocked traffic on both lanes of the Golden Gate Bridge and a key thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in April as they called for a cease-fire in Gaza amid Israel's war with Hamas. 

In some cases, drivers frustrated by being blocked from continuing to their destination have exited their vehicles and angrily confronted protesters. 

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At a protest in the Washington, D.C., area in August 2023, a man who was trying to go to work on a Saturday morning found his path blocked by climate protesters. He exited his vehicle and yanked banners out of their hands and called the protesters "motherf---er[s]" and implored them to get out of his way.

In December, some commuters in Los Angeles who were fed up with anti-Israel protesters blocking the 110 freeway physically confronted the protesters to get them out of the way until they were eventually arrested and removed from the scene an hour and a half after the demonstration began.