As state of Maryland officials consider which builder to select for the Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement, the White House reiterated Friday its plans to fund the rebuild in its entirety.
Democratic President Joe Biden has stated the federal government will fully pay for the new bridge, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, again urged Congress to do so in a letter to the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The letter updated requests that the White House sent Congress in October, including a new ask for $3.1 billion to repair highways and roads “damaged in disasters and other emergencies” — which includes the new Key Bridge. The span is expected to cost roughly $1.7 billion. In addition to funding the new bridge, the letter calls for funds for disaster relief from fires last summer on Maui and tornadoes throughout the country.
“I urge the Congress to take action as soon as possible, and the Administration stands ready to work with you to fund these urgent needs,” Young wrote.
Federal highways are generally funded with 90% federal money and 10% from the state level, but the letter repeated the White House’s request to authorize “100 percent Federal cost share for rebuilding the bridge, consistent with the response of past bridge collapses.”
The federal government would also “pursue all avenues to recover the costs of rebuilding,” the letter continued. That could mean recouping money from insurance or litigation.
The 984-foot cargo ship Dali lost power March 26, crashing into one of the Key Bridge’s support piers and collapsing the structure. Six construction workers were killed and 50,000 tons of debris fell into the Patapsco River, partially blocking the main shipping channel until earlier this month.
The federal government has footed the bulk of the bill for that cleanup and the White House further asked Congress on Friday for $33 million to replenish Army Corps of Engineer funds used for “wreckage removal activities” in the Baltimore harbor and shipping channel, as well as $79.5 million for Coast Guard costs associated with the Key Bridge response.
The state of Maryland’s Board of Public Works will consider Wednesday a $50 million contract with Skanska, a construction company, for helping clear the waterway. The state anticipates those funds will be eligible for federal reimbursement.
“In addition, the Administration looks forward to working with the Congress on relieving tax penalties incurred by longshore workers at the Port of Baltimore who withdrew from their retirement plans due to the hardship of being out of work as a result of the bridge collapse,” Young wrote in her letter.
Congress has not yet passed a bill that would fully fund the bridge rebuild. U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, fellow Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and other Maryland lawmakers are seeking a larger bill on which to attach legislation ensuring the federal government pays the full cost of replacing the bridge.
“We need a vehicle,” Cardin said Friday in an interview, referring to a timely measure — such as a spending bill — likely headed for passage.
The bridge bill, introduced April 11, specifies that the federal portion of emergency relief funds for the “bridge and its approaches shall be 100 percent.” It mandates that any money recouped from insurance or liability payments offset the federal payments.
U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat from Maryland’s 7th District, and U.S. Rep Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland’s 1st District, proposed an amendment this month to the National Defense Authorization Act, which outlines the U.S. military budget each year. The amendment would include a provision for the federal government to fully fund the new bridge.
“No challenge ahead looms too large as we use all means at our disposal to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Mfume said in a statement Friday.
Harris has called for the federal government to “front the money” to cover the rebuild, “while working to be paid back by any liable parties,” a Harris spokesperson said Friday.
U.S. Rep. David Trone, a Democrat from Maryland’s 6th District, said in a statement he’s working to “deploy additional federal funding as quickly as possible.”
“I know how important it is to get this bridge up and running again. We continue to push toward a bipartisan funding package that supports 100 percent of the replacement of this critical bridge, and I commend President Biden and his Administration’s steadfast partnership in this effort. Our community cannot afford to wait; we must put politics aside and deliver results,” Trone said in a statement Friday.
A Key Bridge builder will be selected by mid- to late summer and the project is expected to be finished by October 2028.
Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this article.
