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FL Congressional Republicans Call For Contracting Waiver

Neal Dunn Campaign

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.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.