Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, Assemblyman Ed Ra and the Minority members on the Ways and Means Committee today sent a letter to Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, chairwoman of the committee, calling for an immediate hearing regarding the budgetary impacts of New York state spending under the COVID-19 emergency. As reported by the Albany Times Union, the state ordered millions of COVID-19 test kits from a major campaign donor to Gov. Kathy Hochul at a substantially inflated rate.

Gov. Hochul, whose department of health was able to execute the purchase without competitive bidding or oversight from the state comptroller, has taken in close to $300,000 in campaign donations from the owner and associates of New Jersey based Digital Gadgets. In turn, Digital Gadgets received $637 million in contracts selling COVID-19 tests kits to the state. Digital Gadgets sold their test kits for an average of $12.25 each, while other companies that previously contracted with the state sold kits for less than $8 and in some cases as low as $5.

“This administration orchestrated the purchase of millions of COVID-19 test kits – well above market price – from a major campaign donor to the governor, and the people of New York deserve to know why, and how, that happened without any bidding or oversight,” said Leader Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski). “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.”

“The sheer volume of the purchase multiplied by the inflated price has cost New Yorkers hundreds of millions in unnecessary spending. This is an enormous sum, and any potential impropriety surrounding the deal must be immediately addressed,” said Assemblyman Ra (R-Franklin Square), the Minority Conference’s ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee. “Our call for a hearing comes in the name of basic fiscal responsibility, which at this time appears to have disappeared from the executive’s office.”

Gov. Hocul has repeatedly extended her COVID-related emergency powers since taking office, which has allowed her to avoid normal oversight and protocols designed to check against wasteful, inappropriate spending.