FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick Snow
Communications Director, Heartland Impact
PSnow@heartlandimpact.org
Free-Market Coalition Urges Congress to Keep Surface Transportation Reauthorization Focused on Modernization, Not Union Mandates
SCHAUMBURG, IL— Heartland Impact today announced a coalition letter signed by more than 30 free-market organizations urging Congress to advance a surface transportation reauthorization bill focused on modernization, affordability, and innovation and to reject proposals to mandate two-person train crews at the federal level.The letter, addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, warns that federal crew-size mandates are better understood as a concession to organized labor than a genuine safety measure. Freight rail costs flow directly through to the price of food, fuel, and manufactured goods. At a time when Americans are still facing elevated costs of living, Congress should be advancing solutions that make rail more affordable and reliable, not more expensive.
The full coalition letter is available at https://heartlandimpact.org/2026/04/27/1766/
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Heartland Impact is the state-level advocacy and lobbying arm of The Heartland Institute, a 40-year-old free-market think tank.
