Gov. Hochul gave COVID test contract to campaign donor that charged taxpayers double
“Whether it was pay-to-play or total incompetence – New York taxpayers and then the federal taxpayers got massively ripped off,” John Kaehny, of the good-government group Reinvent Albany, said of the Digital Gadgets deal funded by New York taxpayers with the help of federal relief aid.
While some companies charged the state just $5 for rapid tests, the N.J.-based Digital Gadgets got as much as $13 per unit in a total of $637 million worth of no-bid deals for millions of tests as Hochul pushed schools to stay open amid the omicron wave last year, according to the Times Union.
The deal was made under suspended procurement rules enabled by a state of emergency that Hochul has renewed every month since late last year.
Some Republicans are now calling for Hochul to come clean about the questionable purchases.
“At the very least, the public deserves a hearing to address how this deal was arranged, why it lacked a formal contract, and the seemingly questionable timing of relevant communications,” Republican Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay said in a statement Friday.
Government watchdogs say the test purchases stick out even compared to other alleged instances of her administration helping donors tied to causes as diverse as rapid tests, the Medicaid transportation services, and overhauling Manhattan’s Penn Station.
Hochul raised eyebrows for backing a Penn Station overhaul that would potentially direct more than $1 billion in tax breaks to Vornado Realty Trust after its head, Steve Roth, gave the maximum $68,700 to her campaign in December.
A company called Medical Answering Services has landed millions in state Medicaid business under Hochul’s watch after its president and his wife gave $52,600 stretching back to last September when she was still lieutenant governor under Cuomo.
Hochul also got slammed for backing $600 million in public money for a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, who do business with a company employing her husband Bill Hochul, who has officially recused himself from the matter.
“This deal looks to be the dirtiest,” Kaehny said of the business Hochul did with Digital Gadgets on rapid tests in late 2021 and early 2022.
The incumbent Democrat – who has raised more than $34 million in campaign cash at a rapid rate over the past year – has denied that campaign cash has anything to do with official decision-making on government contracts.
https://nypost.com/2022/09/09/hochul-donor-go...test-deal/
“Whether it was pay-to-play or total incompetence – New York taxpayers and then the federal taxpayers got massively ripped off,” John Kaehny, of the good-government group Reinvent Albany, said of the Digital Gadgets deal funded by New York taxpayers with the help of federal relief aid.
While some companies charged the state just $5 for rapid tests, the N.J.-based Digital Gadgets got as much as $13 per unit in a total of $637 million worth of no-bid deals for millions of tests as Hochul pushed schools to stay open amid the omicron wave last year, according to the Times Union.
The deal was made under suspended procurement rules enabled by a state of emergency that Hochul has renewed every month since late last year.
Some Republicans are now calling for Hochul to come clean about the questionable purchases.
“At the very least, the public deserves a hearing to address how this deal was arranged, why it lacked a formal contract, and the seemingly questionable timing of relevant communications,” Republican Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay said in a statement Friday.
Government watchdogs say the test purchases stick out even compared to other alleged instances of her administration helping donors tied to causes as diverse as rapid tests, the Medicaid transportation services, and overhauling Manhattan’s Penn Station.
Hochul raised eyebrows for backing a Penn Station overhaul that would potentially direct more than $1 billion in tax breaks to Vornado Realty Trust after its head, Steve Roth, gave the maximum $68,700 to her campaign in December.
A company called Medical Answering Services has landed millions in state Medicaid business under Hochul’s watch after its president and his wife gave $52,600 stretching back to last September when she was still lieutenant governor under Cuomo.
Hochul also got slammed for backing $600 million in public money for a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, who do business with a company employing her husband Bill Hochul, who has officially recused himself from the matter.
“This deal looks to be the dirtiest,” Kaehny said of the business Hochul did with Digital Gadgets on rapid tests in late 2021 and early 2022.
The incumbent Democrat – who has raised more than $34 million in campaign cash at a rapid rate over the past year – has denied that campaign cash has anything to do with official decision-making on government contracts.
https://nypost.com/2022/09/09/hochul-donor-go...test-deal/
