Publication: Politico
OAKLAND — After California ordered 200 million masks a month to protect essential workers from coronavirus, will states and nations elsewhere lose out? Gov. Gavin Newsom says no.
Newsom announced Tuesday night that California — which boasts the fifth largest economy in the world — will channel nearly $1 billion toward obtaining 200 million masks a month for California’s healthcare personnel, grocery store clerks, homeless outreach teams and other frontline workers at heightened risk for the coronavirus.
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While legislators applauded Newsom’s aggressive move, some were frustrated that they have received scarce information from his administration on the huge volumes of medical supplies the state has been rapidly stockpiling — especially since the Legislature controls the state's pursestrings. The governor announced the deal on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show Tuesday night.
“It would be great to get a heads-up directly from the governor’s office rather than watching it on national TV,” Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), who chairs the Assembly Budget Committee, said in an interview on Wednesday morning. “We don’t have any information as to how many masks we’re buying, who we’re buying them from, at what price. …What are we obligated? For how long are we obligated?”
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