New questions are emerging surrounding a donation the charity arm of Hope Florida received as part of a settlement between a state agency and a healthcare provider.
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Documents obtained by Action News Jax reveal shortly after pulling in the cash the charity, which was spearheaded by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, approved grants to anti-drug political groups, which then donated to an anti-Amendment 3 political action committee with ties to the Governor.
The Hope Florida Foundation raked in $10 million as part of a settlement agreement between AHCA and healthcare provider Centene last September.
It’s an exchange House leadership has argued should have never happened, as settlements with state agencies are supposed to be deposited into general revenue.
“So far, it looks as though it could be illegal,” said House Speaker Daniel Perez (R-Miami) on April 9th.
Documents newly obtained by Action News Jax reveal within three weeks of the settlement, anti-drug political groups Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society From Drugs both submitted $5 million grant requests to the Hope Florida Foundation, which were approved.
Campaign finance records show the two groups contributed a combined $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean Inc, after submitting their grant requests.
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That PAC was led by Governor Ron DeSantis’ then-Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and was created to combat Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana in Florida if it had been approved by voters.
Uthmeier, who was recently appointed as Florida’s Attorney General by Governor DeSantis, responded to the questionable exchange of money during a press conference Monday morning.
“It [The Hope Florida Foundation] made its own decision to give generous support to other not-for-profits, that by the way, already work with the entity and share that same mission - helping moms, helping families, protecting our kids. That’s totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with that,” said Uthmeier. ”And if some of those organizations were already active in the fight to oppose a dangerous constitutional amendment that would have allowed recreational marijuana to be used anywhere, there’s also not a problem with that.”
But Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) argued the shuffling of what she described as ‘state dollars’, is at best, the misuse of settlement dollars, or at worst, fraud.
“This looks, smells, and feels like an illegal coordinated scheme to use our tax dollars to fund political actions by Ron DeSantis,” said Driskell during a press call Monday.
During his own press conference Monday morning, Governor DeSantis fired back at House lawmakers, calling the accusations “baseless smears”.
“They are stabbing the voters in the back with their behavior. Shame on you in the Florida House and your terrible behavior and leadership,” said DeSantis.
An attorney with the Hope Florida Foundation told Action News Jax the settlement dollars were not used for any political activities.
The House Budget Committee will be looking into that claim, as it has submitted a laundry list of requests for financial transparency to six state agencies overseen by the Governor.
Many of those questions are related to Hope Florida.
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