New York Gov. Doles Out $800 Million in NoBid Migrant Contract

Operating under an emergency order that bypasses the legislature, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul awarded contracts totalling nearly $800 million for services for the immigrants flowing into the Sanctuary State. In infamous Albany style, one of no-bid deals went to a firm that only a week before contributed the $5,000 to Hochul’s campaign account.

The companies, Garner Environmental and Cotton Commercial, were selected by the state Office of General Services from a list approved by the federal government. They will be paid under a $1 billion allocation in the state budget to provide housing and other migrant services.

“Generally, people with business before the government make contributions in hopes that it will help them,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “It’s been an issue in Albany for years.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul File Photo

“State agencies have taken steps to identify resources that state and local governments can use to provide humanitarian relief should further needs arise, including entering into contracts with three vendors whose pricing has been set through a competitive bidding process from the federal government,” a Hochul spokesman said, noting a third company that’s expected to also receive a deal.

Hochul was also criticized for giving out a $637 million no-bid contract for COVID testing kits, a price well beyond what other states were paying. The contractor, Digital Gadgets, had donated about $300,000 to the governor’s political account.

An Albany bill to limit campaign contributions from companies seeking business with the state passed in the senate, but never moved out of committee in the assembly during the recently completed legislative session.

“The clean thing to do is for the governor to advance a plan that really turns off the donor spigot tight, or these questions will always keep coming up,” NYPIRG’s Horner said.