If Ben Franklin were alive in the computer era, he’d’ve said: “Nothing can be certain, except death and taxes — and the inability of any government to run an IT project on budget and well.”
Long after the COVID threat has receded, New York taxpayers are still burning $200,000 a month to maintain the Excelsior App — the Cuomo-era state vaccine passport that nobody uses and never needed.
The Times Union reported this week that the cost of the seldom-used vax app has skyrocketed to $64 million total from its initial $2.5 million debut in 2021.
At best, it was a way for inoculated New Yorkers to access restaurants and live events.
But carrying around your vaccination card worked at least as well — and the app didn’t even register your shots from a drug store or other “third party,” only from city- or state-run sites.
Why keep pouring cash down the drain?
The Hochul administration insists the app can be developed for purposes beyond showing vaccinations no one has to take.
So what?
Plus, we can’t help noticing that (besides IBM) Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte Consulting score the biggest bucks from New York for the Excelsior App, jointly collecting $28 million so far.
By chance, Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte also got paid to help out with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State speeches, with Boston netting $838,000 this year and Deloitte $1 million in 2022.
Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly hired both BCG and Deloitte in 2019 to provide strategic advice to his budget division at a cost to taxpayers of around $30 million a year each.
And Team Hochul rolled over those contracts soon after taking over.
It all reeks of corrupt waste.
The gov can start to clear the air by zapping the vax app.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
