Unmask state’s virus spending
With assertive and generally effective management of the coronavirus crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom has in many respects “met the moment,” to use an overused Newsomism. While his expansive emergency powers and success so far might allow him to ignore boundaries observed in less extraordinary times, he should resist the temptation lest his accumulated goodwill prove, well, momentary.
The governor’s billiondollar contract for protective masks from Chinese automaker BYD, which has a plant in Southern California, is a case in point. Promising the state 200 million N95 and surgical masks per month, it would be a coup at a time when governments are scrambling to secure equipment for health care workers. And yet while the governor splashily announced the deal to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s audience nearly a month ago, he has yet to disclose the details to the press or the Legislature, where members of both parties have criticized the administration’s secrecy.
The announcement of the contract presented Newsom as a competent foil to President Trump, whose administration has been embarrassed by its failure to procure crucial health care supplies. But Newsom’s apparent disregard for legitimate legislative and public oversight of the contract has disturbingly Trumpian overtones.
An administration official told legislators last month that the details would be forthcoming “once we have assurances the supply is going to be arriving,” which didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the deal. Newsom said this week that the equipment had begun to trickle in, with 3 million surgical masks arriving last weekend, but the contract had yet to be made public as of Thursday afternoon.
The administration has spent about $2.1 billion on its coronavirus response to date and issued dozens of executive orders at a time when the Legislature has been hardpressed to do its job, which typically requires the sorts of large assemblies now regarded as lifethreatening. The press has been hamstrung, too, with tightly controlled briefings offering less opportunity for questioning than the more traditional format employed by Newsom’s counterpart in New York, Andrew Cuomo.
Newsom deserves credit for following the lead of officials in the Bay Area and other regions and making the state the first with a shelterinplace order, heading off the sort of explosive growth in infections that New York suffered. While we have already lost too many Californians — with more than 2,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths probably representing a substantial underestimation of the toll — his administration’s response has likely saved many lives.
And while Newsom has wisely avoided gratuitously antagonizing
Trump during a crisis when he needs all the help he can get, he has benefited from the low standard set by the president, who makes other executives look good just by doing their jobs with a degree of coherence and responsibility. The governor should further this healthy contrast by recognizing that his power has limits even in extraordinary times.