Congressman Andy Harris proposes EV tax credits to fund Key Bridge rebuild

BALTIMORE, Md. – Maryland Congressman Andy Harris is urging his colleagues on Capitol Hill to consider a proposal to secure funding to rebuild the Key Bridge.

Harris is calling on Congress to use billions of dollars in unused electric vehicle tax credits and charging infrastructure to offset funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Since the bridge collapsed, traffic has been slowed significantly in and around Baltimore, hurting the local economy.

Rebuilding the bridge is something Congressman Harris says needs to happen sooner rather than later, and that the billions in funding set aside for electric vehicles would be able to help make that happen.

“Electric vehicles are not ready for prime time,” explained Congressman Harris. “A lot of the people who bought them kind of have regret, buyers regret about it, and the infrastructure is not ready. So, let’s go ahead and take some of those dollars, and there are billions of dollars set aside for that, let’s go ahead and rebuild this piece of infrastructure now, and we’ll deal with electric vehicles later.”

Congressman Harris tells WMDT News that his Republican colleagues are excited by the idea, and that he hopes Democrats will agree that it’s reasonable to find an offset from somewhere else to fund rebuilding the bridge.

The bridge collapsed around 1:30 a.m. on March 26, 2024 when a cargo ship leaving the Port of Baltimore struck near the center of it. Officials say it will take roughly $2 billion and years to rebuild the bridge.