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Top Maryland lawmakers are working on a plan to provide financial aid to workers and businesses affected by the shutdown of the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore following Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The details of the legislation — to be called the Maryland Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade Act, or “PORT Act,” — are still being worked out. But Senate President Bill Ferguson and Del. Luke Clippinger, both Baltimore Democrats who represent the port, outlined three goals:
- Providing “income replacement” for workers who will be displaced by the port closure.
- Providing financial support for contractors, small businesses and workers who operate as LLCs.
- Offering funding to port-related businesses to incentivize them to keep their work in Baltimore, rather than permanently relocate to another port.
Read more: Full coverage of the Key Bridge collapse
The money would likely come from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, a pot of cash that is set aside for emergencies. Ferguson and Clippinger said that it’s possible federal government aid may eventually cover some of the programs, but that it’s important to get them started, rather than wait on the federal government.
“This is why, when we had historic surpluses, we put cash in reserves, because you just never know what can happen,” Ferguson told reporters in Annapolis on Wednesday.
He said the legislation will authorize Gov. Wes Moore to make withdrawals from the Rainy Day Fund “for what is raining and pouring. I think know one could imagine the Key Bridge being in the water right now. This is as rainy as it gets.”
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Ferguson and Clippinger said they’ve been hearing steadily from workers and businesses that are facing devastating economic prospects with no ships coming into or out of the port for the forseeable future.
Clippinger said Maryland needs to be “making sure that we’re doing what we need to do to make sure that the business comes back after this is done, that we don’t lose it to Norfolk or to Wilmington or to Philadelphia — that we get that business back into town.”
Ferguson and Clippinger began developing the outlines of the legislation late Tuesday night, and said they’re working with Moore’s team, lawmakers from the region around the port from both parties and bill drafters to nail down the specifics.
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“We’re trying to get as many people together and on board,” Clippinger said. “But, obviously, it fell into the water about 36 hours ago. We’re trying very hard to cover as many of those bases as we can.”
They’ll be racing against the clock to get the bill drafted and approved, not only to get money flowing to workers and businesses, but also to get the legislation done before lawmakers finish their work for the year.
Lawmakers are in the final two weeks of the 90-day General Assembly session and even though important procedural deadlines have passed for approving legislation, the rules can be suspended to advance a high-priority bill, as this one is likely to be.
An estimated 15,000 people work directly at the port, and their work will quickly dry up with no ships allowed in or out while recovery operations continue after the bridge came tumbling down. Untold amounts of bridge components, the Dali ship that struck it and other debris are lodged in the Patapsco River and blocking the shipping channel to the port.
The Port of Baltimore immediately suspended shipping until further notice. Some land-based activities have continued.
More than 140,000 additional jobs are indirectly tied to the port, making the port a significant economic driver in the region.
Moore, speaking to reporters at the command center near the bridge site, said he’ll work with state and federal lawmakers to help affected workers.
“It’s important to me to make sure that these workers are protected and that these workers are supported,” Moore, a Democrat, said Wednesday morning.
Baltimore Banner reporter Jess Nocera contributed to this article.
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Pamela Wood covers Maryland politics and government. She previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Capital and other Maryland newspapers. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she lives in northern Anne Arundel County.
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