Georgia congressman reintroduces bill targeting roadway protests

The reintroduction of the bill comes after many across the country have hit the streets to protest the Trump administration’s stance on immigration.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) has reintroduced the Safe Passage on Interstates Act, which would make protests that intentionally obstruct interstate highways illegal.

The reintroduction of the bill comes after many across the country have hit the streets to protest the Trump administration’s stance on immigration. The original version of the bill stalled during the 118th U.S. Congress in 2023. Some states have laws criminalizing blocking interstate highways, but no such law exists at the federal level. Collins says this needs to change, as the slightest of interstate disruptions can impact Georgians in areas ranging from health to wealth.

“Whether you’ve got interstate commerce, supply chain issues that are wreaking havoc when this happens, or even when you have emergency vehicles that need to use roads, it’s not a right for you to protest and shutdown the interstate commerce,” Collins said. 

David Oedel is a Mercer University School of Law Professor who studies and teaches constitutional law. Oedel says the bill stalling in 2023 wasn’t a matter of unconstitutionality.

“The First Amendment only allows people to make time appropriate, place appropriate speech,” Oedel said. “And it’s not appropriate to make your speech in the middle of an interstate.” 

Oedel says the biggest obstacle facing the act is its redundancy, as nearly all U.S. localities make shutting down thruways without a parade permit illegal. He pointed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail after being arrested for “parading without a permit” and says there are other examples of roadway protests being effective. Oedel says enforcement of roadway protest laws is a state-by-state issue and will likely remain that way.

“They can take their local police in and clear them out,” Oedel said. “And in those states where they want to allow it to happen, well, they can allow it to happen. So, I’d be surprised if it were to pass. I don’t think it’s going to pass.”

But Collins says with the makeup of the 119th Congress, he is confident that the Safe Passage on Interstates Act will become the law of the land.

“This time around, you’ve got a Republican-controlled House, Senate, and of course we have the White House,” Collins said. “So, you’re going to see a lot of good Republican initiatives move this time, and this will be one of them.”