Okay, that’s a media campaign right there against the Governor. Tusk was quoted in relation to Hynes cancelling the contract for vaccine as saying Hynes is “a total process guy”
To which, Hynes responded appropriately:
Hynes responded in an interview printed Thursday in the Springfield State Journal-Register: “To admit you’re not very good at the process means you’re not very good at governing … Governing is not his strong suit.”
In democracy, the process is also the result and in this case, the result desired was admirable–to provide adequate flu vaccine to the citizens of Illinois.
However, another part of the process is ensuring that when there is a question of whether the vaccine can be provided in time, that the taxpayers aren’t being taken to the cleaner.
It’s a simple point and one that should be covered in the discussions–what is the downside and how do we protect against a worst case scenario?
Clearly that didn’t happen.
But lots of things aren’t happening. In dealing with Caremark over how much is being spent in relation to state employees and prescription drugs, the Blagojevich administration is backing the provider in Caremark’s bid to keep its prices secret from the public.
What’s unusual in this case is that Caremark, which has given $4,500 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund, argues that even its prices are trade secrets. The state’s administrative department says it has reviewed the company’s position and agrees.
“While I understand and appreciate your concern … we believe the information is legally exempt from disclosure,” Michael Rumman, director of the state Department of Central Management Services, wrote to the lawmakers on Jan. 4.
Department spokesman Willy Medina said the state is taking bids on a new contract and will include a requirement that the pricing information be released to the public.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the governor has no opinion on the issue beyond hoping that a judge follows the “spirit of the law” when deciding whether the information can be disclosed.
“We’re not experts in intellectual property law,” Ottenhoff said.
But they are experts on changing the way business is done. And this is unusual, but not in the way one typically thinks of it not being business as usual.
It’s one thing to keep costs of each prescription hidden, but not identifying what one is charging to customers is ridiculous and it creates a significant problem for oversight as the Lege members are pointing out.
Changing the way business is done means making the process more open, not protecting state contractors.