Maryland Lawmakers Join Biden in Speeding Federal Relief to Baltimore, Leaving GOP Critics Searching for Roadblocks
Sen. Chris Van Hollen told 24sight the government’s already committed to covering 90% of the cost and will introduce legislation to pay the full tab, 'in a matter of days'
BALTIMORE — Three congressional Democrats welcomed President Joe Biden to the Port of Baltimore on Friday to hail the $60 million in emergency relief the White House has already awarded the state after the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge – and vowed to push Congress to do more in the coming weeks.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is up for reelection this fall, told 24sight that he, retiring Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., are already drafting legislative language ensuring that the federal government fully covers reconstruction of the Key Bridge.
“We will introduce that measure in a matter of days, not weeks,” Van Hollen, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said of the timing of the bill. But what matters most, he noted, is that the Biden administration has already agreed to foot most of the tab.
“The fact that the bridge replacement project has already been accepted within the Emergency Relief Program, means that the federal government is already committed to 90% of the costs,” Van Hollen said. What he hopes to sew up is the remaining 10% – with a caveat that any liability insurance payments collected along the way would go towards the repair costs.
“In other words, any funds that are recovered through lawsuits would essentially go back into the US Treasury,” Van Hollen said.
Cardin added that while having insurance offset some of the yet-to-be-determined reconstruction costs, federal support is the immediate answer.
“We can’t wait for those dollars. We’ve gotta get to work now,” Cardin told attendees.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in the early morning hours of March 26, after the cargo ship Dali lost power and smashed into one of its key support columns, crumpling the bridge into the water as though the beams were so much aluminum foil rather than the tons of steel which girded it for decades.
Immediately, Biden promised the federal government would cover the cost of replacing the bridge – which some outside observers have estimated could take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
“It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said at the time, according to The Baltimore Banner.
And Biden’s top officials have promised that the government would pay a “100 percent federal cost share” while leaving Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to oversee the reconstruction.
Not so fast, cautions a group of House conservative hardliners who loathe government spending and have kept struggling Speaker Mike Johnson on his toes for several months now.
House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., declared federal relief a non-starter for him. “The very thought of having the Federal Government pay for the Baltimore bridge is TOTALLY ABSURD!!” the South Carolina Republican texted reporters at The Hill two days after the accident.
The remainder of the House Freedom Caucus issued a collective statement Friday morning calling for the administration to exhaust all other avenues (seek “maximum liability” from the respective shipping companies, draw down already allocated funds) before asking Congress to chip in any more. And if it comes to that, their list of demands includes rolling back labor- and environmental regulations they disagree with – including Biden’s recent shot at natural gas producers.
“The Biden Administration’s pause on approvals of liquified natural gas export terminals – which, like the Baltimore harbor closure, has severe implications for foreign trade – must be lifted before Congress considers appropriating any funding for the bridge reconstruction,” the far-right group members wrote.
The fight is now set to play out when Congress returns from its recess Monday, April 8.
(Ed note: The above section of this article is free for all to read, the remainder, with lots of important reporting and details from Warren Rojas and Tom LoBianco is available only for paying subscribers of 24sight. If you like the quality journalism we do here, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. And to our growing group of paying supporters, thanks! And please pardon the interruption.)
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