Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschMarch 7, 2016

Multiple outlets reported over the weekend that budget conferees effectively killed a line item to “refresh” the state’s inventory of law enforcement radios furnished by the Brevard County vendor Harris Corp. The issue has been the subject of what Senate budget chief Tom Lee called a “vendor fist fight” between Harris – which holds a lucrative 20-year state […]

Ryan RayMarch 6, 2016

Senior legislative budget writers met Sunday afternoon to continue hammering out differences in Florida House and Senate appropriations proposals, still hundreds of millions of dollars apart. In keeping with their recent meetings since committee sub-chairs “bumped up” remaining budget issues to the at-large budget conference, Chairman Rep. Richard Corcoran and Vice Chairman Sen. Tom Lee – their respective chambers’ […]

Peter SchorschMarch 1, 2016

What do you do when you are asked to carry the water for a colleague running for the Florida Senate, who is looking to curry favor with a large business in his district by requesting funding for a line item nobody asked for, the state doesn’t need, and the Senate vehemently opposes? You do what […]

Ryan RayFebruary 28, 2016

An obscure but heated battle over a state contract potentially worth hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money is at stake as budget conferees continue to hammer out differences between House and Senate proposals. At issues is the radio equipment law enforcement agents use to communicate. Problems with communication gear have led to the deaths of several […]

Ryan RayFebruary 27, 2016

The Government Operations/General Government budget conference held its second meeting Saturday, as the sub-chairmen for each chamber – Rep. Jeanette Nunez and Sen. Alan Hays – continued to wrangle spreadsheets as they inched closer to squaring the $10 million in differences between their respective proposals. This time it was the House’s turn to respond to a Senate offer from […]

Ryan RayJune 23, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $461 million in state spending Tuesday morning, or about 6 percent of all appropriations in the 2015-2016 budget, in his second-greatest spilling of red ink over line items since his first General Appropriations Act in office when he nixed about $615 million from 2011’s $70 million budget. Not on the […]

Ryan RayJune 16, 2015

At a final budget conference meeting that began at the tender hour of 11:05 p.m. and ran until nearly midnight, state budget writers failed to fully address new state funding for hospitals — the primary impetus for the June special Session to begin with. But they did find time to load up the budget with […]

Ryan RayJune 12, 2015

As legislative budget chairs powwow to finalize the budget, unresolved items in the state’s general government budget silo have left the door open for a move by holders of a large state contract to tip the scales in favor of its renewal down the road. A state panel under the Department of Management Services recommended a […]

Peter SchorschMay 29, 2015

Recently, Airbus (yes, that Airbus) joined the ranks of companies vying to build Florida’s next-generation statewide law enforcement radio system. According to a letter recently sent from Airbus to the Florida Joint Task Force on the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System, the company is joining the chorus of calls for an open and competitive procurement for the […]

Peter SchorschOctober 12, 2014

A recent AP poll revealed that Americans are worried that our government can’t protect us. And not without good reason — the botched handling of an Ebola victim, videos of police violence looping on the nightly news, arson-caused wildfires ravaging homes, ISIS threatening our homeland — are stoking a growing sense of vulnerability among Americans to […]

Tag: Harris Corporation
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Government operations budgets inch toward reconciliation

State law enforcement radio money spared Gov. Rick Scott’s veto ax

In last-minute budget talks, lawmakers add some $300+ million in new spending in dark of night

“Back-door extension” of state radios contract at issue in budget talks

Another major corporation enters Florida’s state law enforcement radio fray

Peter Schorsch: Florida’s leaders need to protect our infrastructure from attack