A contingent of Florida’s congressional Republicans is urging the president to waive contracting rules in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Congressman Neal Dunn is a Republican representing Florida’s sprawling second district which runs from Panama City to Ocala. He’s leading nine other Republicans calling for the federal government to waive contracting rules to help speed recovery efforts after Hurricane Irma.
“All we’re doing is trying to lower the bar a little bit,” Dunn says, “to make sure that they can get through that process as quickly as possible, so that people can get back to work and back in their homes as quickly as possible.”
The rules lay out a competitive bidding process prohibiting practices like giving preference to local contractors. In a letter, Dunn says normally those requirements save money, but after a disaster they amount to red tape.
Federal officials offered similar waivers in 2004 after a particularly disastrous hurricane season.
