Proposed spending bill offers Maryland Key Bridge funding while opening door for Commanders to leave

The temporary spending bill before Congress this week is a mixed bag for Maryland. 

The measure sets aside funds for the rebuilding of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, but significantly ups the odds of Prince George’s County losing the Washington Commanders.

A provision in the bill would make good on President Biden’s promise for the federal government to cover the cost of reconstructing the Key Bridge after a massive cargo ship toppled it earlier this year.

The bill, which faces considerable opposition in Congress, would also give the District control over the federally owned RFK Stadium site in Northeast.

The RFK site was home to the then-Redskins during the glory days of the franchise.

Handing control over to the city gives local leaders the leeway to pitch the current Commanders ownership on returning to East Capitol Street.

“It’s a win for the region, and it’s going to allow us to create jobs and attract the types of events to our region that we haven’t been able to attract,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday on local radio station WTOP. “Imagine if we were able to have a Super Bowl here, the World Cup, Taylor Swift concerts. All of those things that have passed by our 4 million-plus person region can be served at the RFK campus.”

The RFK site provision hits the sweet spot Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, had been seeking in her six-year campaign to lure the football team back to the District.

The mayor fought for commercial development to be allowed on the 174-acre plot adjacent to the Anacostia River, and not confine the sprawling piece of land to be used only for sports and entertainment purposes as outlined in its current lease.

Those restrictions are, in part, why the decaying stadium and its vacant parking lots went largely unused for years after D.C. United left in 2017.

With the District on the verge of gaining control over the site, the city will have the freedom to build housing, enlist retail businesses and offer the Commanders’ ownership a competitive deal to build a new stadium in the nation’s capital that can host concerts and other major events.

The proposed spending bill is the latest development in the District and Maryland’s negotiations over the stadium’s future. For example, Maryland recently sought a fighter jet squadron from D.C.’s National Guard in exchange for losing the stadium.   

Josh Harris, the Commanders’ managing partner, has referred to the RFK site as the “spiritual home of the team.”

He was spotted making the rounds on Capitol Hill earlier this month alongside NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — a sign that, despite efforts on the part of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to keep the team in Prince George’s County, the new ownership is leaning toward the District.

The Commanders have been playing at Northwest Stadium in Landover since 1997. The venue has been associated with former owner Dan Snyder’s disappointing tenure, a period that dimmed the franchise’s once-storied glow with countless controversies off the field and a dreadful record on it.

That said, any potential stadium deal would have to get approval from the D.C. Council. Some members, such as Charles Allen, Ward 6 Democrat, have been staunch opponents of bringing a stadium to the RFK site that he argues only gets limited use throughout a year.

The proposed legislation would require city officials to maintain 30% of the stadium’s campus for parks and open space. The deal also prohibits any construction directly on the Anacostia River waterfront.

Up Interstate 95 in Baltimore, the congressional spending bill included language that the federal government would cover the entire cost of the Key Bridge rebuild.

Solving the funding question was a major hurdle to the iconic bridge’s future after the cargo ship Dali crashed into a support beam and brought the structure down in March.

Now with Maryland seemingly off the hook of coming up with close to $200 million — the 10% of the project the state would be expected to typically cover under a federal emergency program — both Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen have said the plan would expedite reconstruction of the bridge.

“This means so much to all of us throughout the state and in particular the residents of Dundalk and Turner Station, our hardworking longshoremen, commuters, and small businesses throughout Maryland that rely on the bridge and the waterway,” Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Maryland Democrat, said in a statement.

Mr. Cardin and Mr. Van Hollen said taxpayers nationwide will be reimbursed through insurance payments and litigation brought by the Justice Department, Maryland and other complainants.

Attorneys for Singapore-based ship operators, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Group, agreed in October to pay back the federal government for cleaning up the bridge’s wreckage when they settled a $100 million DOJ lawsuit.

But Grace Ocean said the settlement was not an admission of guilt, despite the DOJ accusing the ship’s operator of cutting corners and ignoring electrical issues in the Dali before it disembarked Baltimore Harbor on March 26.

Grace Ocean is still fighting dozens of other lawsuits in court, including one where they blamed the state for not better protecting the Key Bridge from ship collisions.

The predawn crash sent the bridge tumbling into the Patapsco River waters below. An eight-person road crew filling potholes on the span went down with the structure; six of the workers died in the wreckage, but two were saved by rescue teams.

The families of the deceased construction workers are among the many claimants in the various cases that include local governments, businesses and longshoremen.

— Liam Griffin contributed to this report.