Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to the city government of Chadron, Nebraska, warning them to stop their misguided efforts to impose unnecessary burdens on food trucks just to “level the playing field” with conventional restaurants. Such efforts to “protect” the city from food trucks violate both the U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions and harm both public safety and Chadron’s local economy.
“It is not the government’s job to pick winners and losers in the marketplace,” said Justin Pearson, senior attorney at the IJ. “In a free society, that decision rests with the consumer.”
Discussions about these potential changes came up during the July 1 Chadron City Council meeting. City officials took the position that food truck vendors had unfair advantages over restaurants. City officials discussed the supposed need to implement new restrictions on food truck permits with higher fees to create a “level playing field” between food truck vendors and restaurant owners. Discussions ended with the council asking city staff to create a more detailed plan to impose these new burdens on food trucks.
However, the desire to harm food trucks in order to protect fixed-base restaurants, also known as economic protectionism, violates the U.S. Constitution, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, the Nebraska Supreme Court has similarly stated that economic protectionism tends to violate the Nebraska Constitution.
In addition, through more than a decade of research, IJ has proven that food trucks have a positive impact on local communities and their economies. For example, in one study, IJ found that food trucks can help create jobs, improve public safety, and revitalize underused public spaces. Another IJ study concluded that the growth in the number of food trucks often parallels the growth of brick-and-mortar restaurants.
IJ has a long history of fighting for Americans’ right to earn an honest living. IJ has also won two separate cases on this issue before the U.S. Supreme Court. And through its National Street Vending Initiative, IJ has struck down dozens of anti-competitive laws that hurt street vendors and food trucks, including victories in Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
About the Institute for Justice
Through strategic litigation, training, communications, activism, legislative outreach, and research, the Institute for Justice promotes a rule of law under which individuals can determine their destinies as free and responsible members of society. IJ litigates to secure economic freedom, educational choice, private property rights, free speech, and other important individual liberties, and to restore constitutional limits on government power.
