MOORE EXTENDS TIMELINE OVER TAX PACKAGE: Gov. Wes Moore (D) issued an executive order Monday evening giving state lawmakers an extra 10 days to resolve their fight over whether to pass $1.2 billion in tax, fee and toll increases — a package proponents say is needed to patch deficit projections not seen since the Great Recession. Their first negotiation talks ended with the two sides still $1 billion apart. They adjourned unable to agree on when to meet next. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
- Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone signaled a willingness to compromise on several issues to bolster the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes said more needs to be done to address billions in revenue shortfalls for transportation and education. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
EMERGENCY BILL WOULD AID PORT, KEY BRIDGE COMMUNITIES: Emergency legislation to address the impacts of the Key Bridge collapse on the Port of Baltimore and surrounding communities will be heard Tuesday and Wednesday. Negotiations on the $63 billion state budget are likely to continue late into the week. Here is the status of some other major policies as the General Assembly sets to adjourn at 12:01 a.m. April 9. Hannah Gaskill and Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
CORRECTIONS REFORMS BILL MOVES FORWARD: A House committee voted Monday to advance a correctional ombudsman bill to the full chamber, which some legislators and criminal justice reform advocates have pushed for at least three years. With about a week left in the 90-day legislative session, the committee also voted to conform the House version of the bill to the Senate measure. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MO CO JUDGE RULES AGAINST STATE CHILD VICTIMS ACT: A Montgomery County judge deemed Maryland’s Child Victims Act unconstitutional Monday in a child sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Washington, prompting a swift promise of yet another appeal related to the landmark law. Circuit Judge Jeannie E. Cho’s ruling diverged from those of her colleagues in Harford and Prince George’s counties, who found the law constitutional. Alex Mann/The Baltimore Sun.
MOORE’s TOUGHEST TEST: The Key Bridge collapse, loss of life and subsequent closure of Baltimore’s port have presented the biggest challenge yet to Gov. Wes Moore, a 45-year-old Democrat in his first 15 months of political office. He’s had to console families of those who perished, participate in an emergency response and inform and comfort shaken Marylanders. The ordeal has thrust Moore into the national spotlight, putting further shine on a rising star in the Democratic Party who some have suggested is a future presidential candidate. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
PRESIDENT BIDEN TO VISIT BALTIMORE PORT FRIDAY: President Biden will tour the Port of Baltimore and the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Friday as long-term efforts to reopen the port continue, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. Jacob Fischler/Maryland Matters.
MORE DETAILS ON THE SIX WHO DIED: Baltimore’s Latino community is grieving the six lives lost as it rallies around the families. For some, the men’s deaths symbolize the sacrifices many Latin American immigrants make when they work dangerous jobs in the United States to improve their families’ futures. The men who died came from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The youngest were in their 20s, while the eldest was a 49-year-old grandfather. Cassidy Jensen and Christine Condon/The Baltimore Sun.
BARGE IS FIRST VESSEL TO TRAVEL THROUGH TEMPORARY CHANNEL: A tugboat pushing a fuel barge became the first vessel to travel through the small, temporary channel cleared near Sollers Point since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, according to an announcement late Monday from the joint information center for the agencies overseeing the operation. Lillian Reed, Pamela Wood, Emily Sullivan and Hugo Kugiya/The Baltimore Banner.
- Although too shallow for commercial shipping (even if allowed), the temporary channel “will mark an important first step along the road to reopening the port of Baltimore,” Coast Guard Capt. David O’Connell, the federal on-scene response coordinator, declared. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
KEY BRIDGE DISASTER, BY THE NUMBERS: In the space of seconds, what took four years and $141 million to construct vanished. Struck by the cargo ship Dali one week ago, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the dark of the Patapsco River. The size of the catastrophe and the ongoing recovery effort is beyond measure, starting with the loss of six construction workers who had been patching the surface of the bridge.Here, by the numbers, is an attempt to quantify the unquantifiable, including the Key Bridge, the Dali, reconstruction and recovery efforts. Jean Marbella and Annie Jenneman/The Baltimore Sun.
POLL: TRONE EDGES ALSOBROOKS; TIGHT RACE FOR EITHER AGAINST HOGAN: U.S. Rep. David Trone has a slight edge over Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the Democratic primary race for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat, while each of the Democratic frontrunners would face a tight showdown against Republican favorite Gov. Larry Hogan, according to a new survey from Goucher College Poll and The Baltimore Banner. Hallie Miller/The Baltimore Banner.
