HR-9004-119
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Sponsored by Emilia Sykes (D-OH)
What it does
This bill would amend Section 1401 of MAP-21 (the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act) to require any entity that receives federal funding to construct, reopen, or improve truck stop or travel plaza facilities to prominently display two types of public safety notices. The first notice would include information about human trafficking, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, a definition of human trafficking, and warning signs. The second notice would include suicide prevention information and details about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, including that it is free, confidential, and available 24/7.
Who benefits
Truck drivers, who face elevated exposure to both human trafficking situations and mental health crises due to isolation and long hours on the road. Trafficking victims who may be transported through or exploited at truck stops and who could use hotline information to seek help. Bystanders and facility workers who could use warning sign information to identify and report trafficking. Individuals experiencing mental health crises who may encounter the 988 Lifeline information. The National Human Trafficking Hotline and 988 Lifeline operators, who may see increased utilization. Advocacy organizations focused on anti-trafficking and suicide prevention.
Who is hurt
Entities receiving MAP-21 funding for eligible projects would bear the administrative and material costs of producing and displaying compliant notices. Small or independent truck stop operators receiving federal project funds may face a proportionally larger compliance burden. Facility owners who object to mandated signage on aesthetic or property-use grounds could be affected. There is no direct financial penalty specified in the bill text, but non-compliance could theoretically affect eligibility for future federal project funding.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that truck stops are well-documented venues for human trafficking, with the Polaris Project reporting that transportation corridors are among the most common trafficking locations in the United States. They contend that simple, low-cost notice requirements have proven effective in other contexts — many states already mandate similar signage in hotels and airports — and that extending this requirement to federally funded truck stop projects is a proportionate, minimally burdensome way to connect vulnerable people with life-saving resources at the exact locations where they are most needed.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that unfunded federal mandates on signage, even modest ones, set a precedent for attaching behavioral conditions to infrastructure funding that could expand over time. They contend that the bill's effectiveness is unproven — there is limited peer-reviewed evidence that posted hotline notices meaningfully increase victim reporting or reduce trafficking incidents — and that the compliance burden, while small per facility, is imposed without any accompanying federal appropriation to offset costs for smaller operators receiving project grants.