In all the talk about state incentives swirling about Tallahassee last week, one story was repeated over and over.
Gov. Jeb Bush sought unfettered power over a megafund to lure corporations and nail down lucrative contracts for the state. One potential candidate for such funds was Raytheon Corp.'s operation in St. Petersburg, which is in competition with Lockheed Martin in California for a $6.2-billion defense satellite program.
Stories about Raytheon's bid and the need to sweeten it with a state incentive always mentioned that state aid was critical because California had offered a $10-million incentive to help Lockheed Martin.
But a spokesman for Lockheed Martin said California has offered no such incentive. A call to California's office of technology, trade and commerce, where such incentives would be issued, was not returned.
A spokeswoman for Raytheon could not say where she first heard of the California incentive package but said a similar Florida incentive was intended simply to "level the playing field.'
A spokeswoman for Enterprise Florida, which confirmed it was working on an incentive for Raytheon, declined to comment further on the negotiations, citing a confidentiality agreement.
What is certain is that the Navy will name the winner of the multibillion-dollar satellite contract early next year, presumably not based on which state is waving the most dollars.
