With billions in public funding being directed to coronavirus treatment and vaccine research, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Mike Braun (R-IN) have introduced the Taxpayer Research and Coronavirus Knowledge (TRACK) act to publicly account for where those dollars are going.
The bill would introduce transparency to the funding process, mandating the creation of a public database of COVID-19 drug research and development efforts that use federal funds. So far, nearly $8 billion has been provided for coronavirus R&D efforts by Congress, and another $700 million from the National Institutes of Health has benefited such research. Operation Warp Speed and similar federal initiatives are picking up pace, signing contracts with private companies for billions of dollars and millions of doses of potential vaccines for which taxpayer money has paid.
“The administration is handing out billions of taxpayer dollars without any kind of open or transparent process,” Merkley said. “The least we can do is make sure there’s transparency after the fact, so we know who is getting our money and what we are getting for it. Everyone wants breakthrough COVID treatments and vaccines as soon as possible, but we don’t need to put up with sweetheart deals, cronyism, fraud, or corruption to get it. A database will provide transparency and accountability, so we all can all see what we get for these taxpayer investments.”
That database would be hosted on the Department of Health and Human Services website, and include everything from the agency providing and organizations receiving support, to non-financial support, clinical data and full terms of any contract reached.
Presently, the senators allege, specific information on such funding remains incomplete and difficult to access, making it tricky to determine how, exactly, decisions are being made, if the investments are worth it, or whether any fraud is occurring. Speed has been a major component of investment, but the senators don’t want to see quality suffer for it.
“With the billions of dollars that Congress has now spent on research and development for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, increased transparency into how this money is being used is needed now more than ever,” Braun said. “This legislation ensures transparency into the vital aspects of the research, along with oversight and record keeping requirements for taxpayer funded research and development that have been ignored for far too long, which is a win for all Americans.”
Dozens of nonprofits and advocacy organizations have already endorsed the legislation, including the AARP, United Auto Workers, Public Advocacy for Kids and Right to Health: Pandemic Prevention Project among them.