Several Democratic state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would require restaurants along the state’s 500-mile Thruway to stay open seven days a week to serve motorists.

The bill would affect all future contracts for food concessions at transportation facilities owned by the state and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“This is about making sure the Thruways have rest stops that support and have our travelers be able to be serviced,” said state Assemblymember Tony Simone, a Manhattan Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors. “This is a consumer protection bill.”

This makes sense.

We wouldn’t expect a government entity to sign a contract for snow removal with a company that didn’t work on Sundays.

Nor would we expect a sports stadium or arena, whether public or private, to sign a contract to serve hot dogs with a company that wouldn’t be open on some game days.

And what would happen if other restaurants decide that they will not open on Saturdays or Sundays or Mondays? Perhaps travel alerts will be sent to motorists letting them know what to expect at rest stops.

But common sense sometimes gives way to other concerns when it comes to culture wars.

As the legislation has in this case.

Some Republicans have seized on it to claim Democrats are targeting Chick-fil-A, a brand long associated with Christian conservatism that is well-known for being closed on Sundays.

The chain, which has more than 3,000 locations in 48 states, currently operates seven locations on the Thruway and is scheduled to increase that total to 10 at the end of a Thruway service area redevelopment project.

The proposed legislation would not apply to Chick-fil-A’s existing locations. It would only apply to new contracts.

Chick-fil-A’s tradition of closing on Sundays dates back to founder Truett Cathy, a conservative Christian.

Before he died in 2014, Cathy said he closed his restaurants on Sundays so that his employees could spend time with their families. The policy was also a way to reflect his faith.

“It’s a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls, and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed,” he once told a reporter.

But Chick-fil-A has not been without controversy. It has drawn criticism in the past for its large donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations, a decision that it reversed in 2019.

In 2012, Cathy spoke out against America’s legalization of same-sex marriage, which sparked national controversy and boycotts from the left.

Airports in Buffalo and San Antonio, Texas, have blocked Chick-fil-A from opening at their sites. Some college campuses have also banned the chain.

Some conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, rallied behind the company. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill in 2019 in defense of Chick-fil-A and religious freedom

The proposed legislation in New York has drawn opposition from rightwing media and lawmakers, including South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham as well as a letter-writer who appeared in Blank Slate Media last week.

Graham has threatened to introduce legislation that would withhold federal funds from cities that require the fast-food chain to remain open on Sundays.

“I’m sure this is a publicity stunt, but the idea that the State of New York is going to make a company change its policies it’s had from its founding,” Graham said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.” “They want to have one day off for their employees to recognize the Lord. And they can do it.

“And to the people in New York who are pushing this: You’re in for one hell of a fight,” he said in the interview.

There are several problems with Graham’s argument.

The first is that Graham has been a strong proponent of state’s rights on subjects such as abortion and civil rights. So how does he square that with getting involved in New York’s legislative decision and even threatening federal retribution?

The second is that the legislation is not forcing Chick-fil-A to remain open on Sundays. The eatery can simply not seek contracts with New York that it is unwilling to fulfill – for whatever reason.

This would be consistent with Cathy’s desire to show his faith by foregoing Sunday sales. The company could also reverse its policy to stay closed on Sundays as it did in financing efforts to oppose LGBTQ rights.

It’s their choice.

Chick-fil-A could address the issue of employees who observe the Sabbath on Sunday by simply giving them time off and letting those who don’t observe the sabbath on Sundays work.

Graham’s comments seem to imply that all Chick-fil-A employees observe the sabbath on Sunday.

If true, this would seem to raise some serious questions about Chick-fil-A’s hiring practices across the country, including here in Nassau County, where Chick-fil-A has several locations.

What about those who observe the Sabbath on Saturday? Or those who don’t observe the sabbath at all? We don’t think that is merely an oversight on Graham’s part.

Perhaps Graham would like New York State to follow Bergen County, N.J., which bars the sale of electronics, clothing and furniture on Sundays under blue laws established in 1677.

There is also an easy answer to giving time off to the company’s current employees – Chick-fil-A could hire more employees.

The typical Chick-fil-A location already manages stores that operate six days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. We assume employees don’t work the full 16 hours that the restaurant is open each day and get off at least one day other than Sunday.

They can avoid overworking the existing staff if they go to seven days a week by hiring more people.

In opposing the legislation last week, a letter-writer to Blank Slate Media said that “eating at Chick-fil-A’s should be your choice.”

He is correct in saying you should have the choice to eat at Chick-fil-A.

But there are already more than 3,000 locations around the country, including more than 50 in New York, where he can exercise his choice of eating at Chick-fil-A – except for Sundays.

That’s the day Chick-fil-A has decided he can’t eat there.

The proposed legislation mentions Chick-fil-A’s policy of staying closed on Sundays, saying that “while there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers are an inappropriate location for such a restaurant.”

Assemblyman Simone said his bill “has nothing to do with religion” and came about despite Chick-fil-A’s record on LGBTQ issues, which he criticized as “terrible.”

“This is about making sure the Thruways have rest stops that support and have our travelers be able to be serviced,” he told CNN. “This is a consumer protection bill.”

The opposition by Graham and his fellow Republicans appears to be nothing more than an attempt to start another battle in the culture wars – at the expense of New York’s legislative process.

Former President Trump has repeatedly attempted to appeal to Christian voters in recent weeks by accusing the Biden administration, without any evidence, of criminalizing Americans for their faith.

Which in every case turns out to be their Christian faith – a major part of the Republican Party’s support nationally.

So the battle over the legislation is nothing new. Republicans have used culture war issues very effectively in the past to reach their base voters.

But it doesn’t make it right. And New York should be guided in awarding contracts by what best serves the public – not politicians.