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MacKenzie Scott donates another $2.7 billion to 286 organizations
MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday that she and her husband, Dan Jewett, had donated $2.74 billion to 286 different organizations, including community-based nonprofits and organizations focused on racial justice.
Why it matters: It's the next phase of what the New York Times describes as a "highly unconventional approach" to philanthropy from one of the richest women in the world.
- Scott has doled out billions of dollars in donations over the last year, including nearly $6 billion to 500 organizations in 2020, per the Times.
- "Putting large donors at the center of stories on social progress is a distortion of their role," Scott wrote in a blog post. "Me, Dan, a constellation of researchers and administrators and advisors — we are all attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change."
Details: Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, listed the nearly 300 "high-impact organizations" that the donations will benefit.
- Scott said the philanthropies fall into categories "that have been historically underfunded and overlooked."
- The groups receiving portions of the donation include arts groups, such as the Arts Forward Fund and Art for Justice Fund; institutes of higher education, such as Cal Poly Pomona and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; and community-based groups fighting discrimination, such as Black Led Movement Fund and Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund.
What she's saying: "People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating," Scott wrote. "This is equally — perhaps especially — true when their work is funded by wealth."
- "In this effort, we are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others."
- "Though we still have a lot to learn about how to act on these beliefs without contradicting and subverting them, we can begin by acknowledging that people working to build power from within communities are the agents of change."
Our thought bubble, via Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon:Scott is becoming ever more adamant that this isn't her philanthropy; she's simply trying to enable others to spend her money as they see fit.
"Vaccine tourism" stretches states' supplies
Americans who are highly motivated to get vaccinated are traveling across state lines after hearing about larger vaccine supplies or loopholes in sign-up systems.
Why it matters: "Vaccine tourism" raises ethical and legal questions, and could worsen the racial socioeconomic and racial inequalities of the pandemic.
- "People are getting anxious and frustrated with the system, and the system is how it is because there’s just not enough vaccine for everybody who wants it," Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said.
The big picture: Reports of wealthy couples taking private jets to Florida to get vaccinated have made national news, but Wendy Parmet, law and public policy and urban affairs professor at Northeastern University, said the problem is much deeper than a few ultra rich skipping the line.
- "If there’s not a lot of transparency and trust in the system, in its fairness and equity, then there are always going to be some people to game the system," creating a 'vicious cycle of inequity," she said.
What's happening: States like Tennessee that allocate doses by county population, rather than risk groups, forced essential workers to travel to rural counties with excess supply.
- Immunocompromised Louisiana residents traveled to Mississippi, where the state was prioritizing their illness.
- States are legally allowed to prioritize residents over visitors, asking for proof of address or a form of ID. The influx of "winter visitors" in Arizona caused Gov. Doug Ducey to request more shots earlier this year.
By the numbers: In the few states that are tracking out-of-state vaccinations, tens of thousands have been given shots.
- More than 30,000 people have traveled to Ohio to be vaccinated.
- In Florida, it's more than 82,000, not including part-time residents.
Yes, but: It's important for states to get shots to the people who may be less motivated to seek them out on their own, and when that require a broad brush, easing up on residency requirements may be worth it.
- "If you’re doing a mobile site in a hard-hit community, I wouldn’t worry about verifying residency at all. I think it’s at the larger scale sites maybe that makes sense while also giving an opportunity to access it somewhere else," said Govind Persad, a law professor at the University of Denver who specializes in health care ethics.
What to watch: More supply in the next month could also clear up some of these issues, Plescia said.
- "If you told somebody, 'We can get you a vaccine, it’s just going to be a week or two from now,' most people are probably going to wait for that. But I think some people are getting frustrated and anxious that it might be longer," he said.
GOP Sen. Rob Portman will not run for re-election, citing "partisan gridlock"
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced Monday he will not run for a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2022, citing "partisan gridlock."
Why it matters: It's a surprise retirement from a prominent Senate Republican who easily won re-election in 2016 and was expected to do so again in 2022.
What they're saying: "I don’t think any Senate office has been more successful in getting things done, but honestly, it has gotten harder and harder to break through the partisan gridlock and make progress on substantive policy, and that has contributed to my decision," Portman said in a statement.
- “We live in an increasingly polarized country where members of both parties are being pushed further to the right and further to the left, and that means too few people who are actively looking to find common ground."
- "This is not a new phenomenon, of course, but a problem that has gotten worse over the past few decades."
This story is breaking news. Please check back for updates.



