D.C. Memo: A tale of two bridges as Maryland awaits federal response

WASHINGTON — The dramatic collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore this week elicited immediate comparisons with the disastrous crumbling of the I-35 Mississippi Bridge in Minneapolis 17 years ago.

But there are key differences.

While both tragedies caused the loss of lives and loss of revenues for Minnesota and Maryland, how Congress reacts to the latest bridge collapse is likely to be very different from its response to the collapse of the I-35 bridge.

Within days of the Aug. 1, 2007, disaster that resulted in 13 dead and 150 injured, Congress authorized $250 million for a replacement bridge.

But action on the Baltimore bridge will have to wait. One reason is that Congress is on a two-week break.

Moreover, the bipartisanship that helped Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., work together to win federal help in replacing the bridge is now missing.

“The fact that Norm and I were doing it together made it clear (that it was a bipartisan effort),” Klobuchar told MinnPost.

Minnesota had another big break. In the U.S. House, the chairman of the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was former Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat who represented Minnesota’s Iron Range for many years.

Because he was influential in determining whether a lawmaker would win approval of a local road project, his bill to authorize money for the I-35 bridge passed the U.S. House unanimously.

Oberstar was aided by the efforts of former Rep. Keith Ellison, who then represented the area of the bridge’s collapse in Congress and is now the state’s attorney general.

Today, the U.S. House hasn’t been able to pass much emergency legislation without attaching policy riders that are poison pills in the Democratic-led U.S. Senate.

Congress is different in another way, too.

“We didn’t have any of this complaining about whose fault it was,” Klobuchar said.

While authorization to rebuild the I-35 bridge exclusively with federal funds was quickly approved, legislation that would procure the actual money took a while longer.

During the debate of an infrastructure bill, lawmakers repeatedly cited the collapse of the I-35 bridge as an example of why the legislation was needed, Klobuchar said. But money for that Minneapolis bridge was not included in the initial infrastructure bill because Klobuchar she was told if it had been, “then everybody is going to want more money,” she said.

Klobuchar persisted in remaining at her desk in the Senate chamber until a vote on her amendment to fund the bill was held. “I sat at my desk and would not leave,” she said. At that time, Klobuchar had been in office for only about eight months.

Her persistence paid off as the amendment was considered and approved on a bipartisan basis.

Former President George W. Bush signed a final infrastructure bill that contained the money for a new Mississippi River bridge at the end of the year and the structure was completed about nine months later.

Baltimore’s collapsed bridge is expected to cost at least $1 billion to replace, and President Biden has pledged federal help.  

“I’ve directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” Biden said this week, vowing that the federal government “will pay the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge.”

Maryland can tap some money for a new bridge from the last federal infrastructure bill, and the Biden administration may be able to shift money from other accounts to provide emergency help.

The company that insured the massive barge that hit a pylon on the Francis Scott Key bridge, causing its collapse, is also expected to make a payout.

But it’s likely that Congress will also be asked to get involved. It’s not clear how it will react.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said Thursday that he was opposed to signing a “blank check” for the bridge’s replacement.

Yet Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., was among the first in Congress to pledge support after Baltimore’s bridge fell on Tuesday.

“One of our most deeply held values as Minnesotans is we help neighbors in need. When I-35W collapsed, Congress swiftly passed legislation to help rebuild it,” Smith posted on X. “Count me in.”

A sick goat and concerned dairy farmers

There were concerns this week about an outbreak of the avian flu that has migrated to cows after the highly pathogenic virus was found in unpasteurized milk samples from sick cattle at dairy farms in Kansas, Texas and New Mexico.

No dairy cows have been affected in Minnesota. But this week, a young goat on a farm in Stevens County tested positive for the avian flu, which had infected a poultry flock in that same farm.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health said all other animals at the farm have been quarantined and that it is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate the transmission of the virus at the Stevens County farm.

“This finding is significant because, while the spring migration is definitely a higher risk transmission period for poultry, it highlights the possibility of the virus infecting other animals on farms with multiple species,” said State Veterinarian Brian Hoefs in a statement.

While the infection of cattle in other states has spoiled milk, public health officials stress that the risk to humans from the virus remains low.

The National Milk Producers Federation said pasteurization of milk kills all pathogens, including the avian flu virus.

But it recommended that dairy farmers take precautionary steps, including extra vigilance to detect a sick cow and quickly isolate it.

“Dairy farmers also have begun implementing enhanced biosecurity protocols on their farms, limiting the amount of traffic into and out of their properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel,” the National Milk Producers said in a statement.

Minnesota is a large producer of milk and dairy products. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Minnesota was home to about 448,000 milk cows in February.

Your questions and comments

A reader this week took issue with a story about the Republican Study Committee’s proposed 2025 budget, which would raise the retirement age for Social Security to shore up the program’s solvency. The story said there are other ways to prevent a shortfall of funding in the program that is projected to occur in 2032 unless changes are made, including raising the Social Security payroll tax or transferring money from the general fund.

“If the Republicans are only interested in delaying eligibility for Social Security, not in raising revenue or transferring funds to shore up the projected shortfall I would say they have at least attempted to find a solution. If (the) Democrats only answer is to say no to both ideas then we are all in for a 20% benefit reduction,” the reader said.

Another reader wrote:

“A retiree myself, and of long standing, I have no real objection to ‘… modest adjustments to the retirement age for future retirees to account for increases in life expectancy,’ or for lowering benefits for the ‘highest-earning’ beneficiaries.”

But he added “the devil is in the details.”

This same reader weighed in on Rep. Tom Emmer’s criticisms of President Biden’s State of the Union address, which Minnesota’s Republican  congressman said was “too political.”

“EVERY SOTU speech is a political speech, at least the ones delivered while I’ve been a legal adult … In that context, it makes no difference whether the chief executive is a Republican or a Democrat. Either way, the speaker will tout the achievements of their own administration, and by extension, their political allies, and — usually gently, but not always — occasionally poke at the flaws of their political opponents.”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.