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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced Silicon Valley tech companies and healthcare industry titans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic like no other governor in America — routinely outsourcing life-or-death public health duties to his allies in the private sector.
At least 30 tech and healthcare companies have received lucrative, no-bid government contracts, or helped fund and carry out critical public health activities during the state’s battle against the coronavirus, a KHN analysis has found. The vast majority are Newsom supporters and donors who have contributed more than $113 million to his political campaigns and charitable causes, or to fund his policy initiatives, since his first run for statewide office in 2010.