Bill to change Maryland’s state of emergency law after Key Bridge collapse likely to be voted on next week

A bill aimed at changing Maryland’s state of emergency law in the wake of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore will likely be voted on next week.

Anne Arundel County state Sen. Bryan Simonaire drafted the bill Tuesday morning hours after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship collided with a support column of the bridge at approximately 1:20 a.m. The 984-foot ship caused the bridge to topple into the Patapsco River within seconds, sending a small crew of construction workers tumbling into the frigid water below. Two people survived, but the bodies of two workers were recovered from the river on Wednesday. Four other workers are presumed dead.

The bill, sponsored by Republicans Simonaire, a Pasadena Republican, and Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, a Republican from Baltimore County who represents part of the Port of Baltimore, would extend the lifespan of certain powers granted to the governor through a state of emergency. Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Tuesday for the Key Bridge.

While a state of emergency lasts 30 days in Maryland, this would avail the governor of some of the powers authorized by a state of emergency for up to a year. It would grant the governor the ability to take emergency actions for the extra length of time only as it pertains to addressing the loss of and repair of the critical infrastructure referenced in the state of emergency.

“It’s streamlining the process for a specific project where it makes sense,” Simonaire said in an interview Tuesday.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, announced the bill on Thursday.

If passed, the legislation would enable the governor to override certain regulations and waiting periods to get the bridge rebuilt faster. It would enable Moore to authorize the clearing of debris and wreckage, set evacuation routes, take over private property, provide compensation for the owners and set up temporary housing without having to abide by typical waiting and public notice periods.

At the bill’s first hearing on Thursday which required a motion to suspend Senate rules for a late introduction, members of the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee asked about the mechanics of the bill.

There already seems to be widespread agreement across the state that bridge repairs will be a priority, noted Republican Sen. Mary Beth Carozza representing Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. Given this, she asked why the bill would be necessary.

“We could go and we could put a piece of legislation in today and say we’re going to help expedite permits, we’re going to help expedite this and this, but we just don’t know what all those unknowns are,” Simonaire said, adding that because the legislative session ends in just over a week, “You need something that’s flexible, that we don’t have to wait nine more months to come back.”

Currently, the governor must renew an executive order or proclamation declaring a state of emergency every 30 days. Governors can end states of emergency at any point via executive order if they deem that the danger has passed or been dealt with to the most possible extent. The General Assembly also has the power to end a state of emergency at any time through the passage of a joint resolution.

“I think it’s important to have something like this in place,” Salling said Tuesday. “It’s important that we have the availability to move forward to get some of these things done that we know will take a very long time, a bunch of years, to get this bridge taken care of.”

Though it’s ambitious, Simonaire said he hopes the bill can pass in a few days.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I’ve been down here long enough to see that if we want it done we can get it done,” he said. “We certainly have enough time to do it.”

Committee chair Sen. Brian Feldman, a Montgomery County Democrat, told the senators Thursday he’d like to give relevant parties a few more days to review the bill before voting on it early next week.

An investigation into the collapse of the Key Bridge is expected to determine the cause of the incident and could provide new details on what led the outbound vessel Dali to collide with the bridge. Authorities said Thursday that the cargo ship was carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials and had more than 1 million gallons of fuel onboard at the time of the collision, but there was “no immediate threat to the environment.”

President Joe Biden addressed the disaster on Tuesday afternoon promising “the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge.” On Thursday, his administration approved an initial $60 million request from Moore’s administration to cover preliminary costs for mobilization, operations and debris recovery.

“I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said. “This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with it every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”