stockpiles left state governments scrambling for hard-to-get supplies. Much of the buying happened outside normal competitive bidding procedures and, in many states a lack of transparency from governors' administrations made it difficult for the public — and even lawmakers — to see how taxpayer money was being spent.The spending data covers the period from the emergence of COVID-19 in the U.S.
in early 2020 to the start of summer. Some governors described the early PPE marketplace as the Wild West, where supplies often went to the highest bidder, even if they had already been promised to someone else.