Transparency News, 7/12/2022
Tuesday
July 12, 2022
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state & local news stories
Virginia lawmakers didn’t approve an array of new education voucher program proposals this year. But an attempt to limit an existing voucher program also stalled, due to a budget amendment from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits Program allows individuals to receive a tax break for contributing to foundations and private schools to fund tuition scholarships for low- and middle-income students there. More lenient income restrictions exist for students with disabilities. Records VPM News received from the state department of taxation show that wealthy individuals have received nearly all of these specific tax credits in recent years.
VPM
A data breach may have exposed the medical records of nearly 4,500 organ donors and transplant recipients at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System as early as 2006. Records of organ donors and recipients at VCU Health, including Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, lab results and personal information, could have been accessible by other donors, recipients or their representatives when logging into their patient portal, according to the health system. VCU Health says its investigation found no evidence indicating that any vulnerable information was misused, and that the general public could not have accessed the records. The system added that the issue has been resolved.
WRIC
A pharmaceutical startup that received one of the largest-ever federal pandemic preparedness contracts championed by senior-level Trump White House officials has yet to fulfill its promise to bring cheap, generic drug manufacturing to the U.S. In May 2020, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority issued a $354 million contract with the option to extend up to $812 million over 10 years to Phlow Corp., a Richmond, Va.-based company that had been created just a few months prior. It awarded Phlow an additional contract for $87 million in December 2021. Phlow procured its federal contract by responding to a broad agency announcement (BAA) regarding ways to optimize the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain. As their name suggests, BAAs are intentionally vague, which allows the federal government to receive and evaluate proposals that solve problems in a variety of ways, said Steven Schooner, a law professor at George Washington University Law School. BAAs, unlike requests for proposals, can often lead to unsolicited proposals to the agency that are not made public nor do they allow for competition among companies, he added. Schooner noted there’s no reason for parties to be secretive about it. “Why shouldn’t this information be public?” he said.
Politico
