Desantis’ Hope Florida Scrutiny Deepens Amid New Revelations On $10m Payment

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crusade to defeat a Florida recreational pot ballot measure received $10 million from two groups that got money from a nonprofit associated with first lady Casey DeSantis’ community-based assistance program.

Hope Florida has received heightened scrutiny over whether it improperly received money intended for the state. Two organizations said to Hope Florida in letters that they did not use the money for political activity. But the groups wound up giving money to the effort to defeat the pot amendment within days of receiving it from the Hope Florida Foundation.

The program, launched by the first lady, discussed a partnership with a Florida Chamber of Commerce initiative that helped Gov. DeSantis defeat Amendment 3. A review of state election records shows the same Florida Chamber of Commerce initiative also provided the campaign led by Gov. DeSantis close to $5 million in the two weeks before the November election.

Despite the timing, letters provided by the foundation that oversees Hope Florida show $5 million was given to the chamber’s Secure Florida’s Future initiative in response to a proposal that would promote the first lady’s program and help recruit business partners in the future.

A proposal letter sent to Hope Florida promised that the chamber-led initiative, which also took part in efforts to defeat Amendment 3 in last year’s election, would not use the $5 million grant for political or election purposes.

Florida Chamber President Mark Wilson wrote the money would be put toward a long-term targeted business partner recruitment strategy and public awareness campaign.

“By utilizing our network of robust communications and outreach channels serving our hundreds of thousands of employer- and business organization-members representing every industry, sector and region of Florida,” Wilson wrote in the letter.

The Hope Florida board gave another $5 million to Save Our Society from Drugs, a St. Petersburg-based organization aimed at preventing drug use and increasing access to recovery programs.

“The importance of this work cannot be overstated,” Amy Ronshausen, executive director of Save Our Society from Drugs, wrote in the letter. “Drug use continues to have a devastating impact on families, the workforce, and community health.”

Hope Florida was launched by Casey DeSantis four years ago as a community-based welfare initiative designed to reduce the need for government-subsidized programs. Gov. DeSantis asked the Legislature this year to put Hope Florida into state law, spurring a financial review that left state House leaders with questions and concerns about how taxpayer dollars have been spent.

Casey DeSantis is considering a run for governor to succeed her husband, who is term-limited and cannot run again. Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly touted the initiative and praised his wife’s efforts to put it together.

Last week, Florida’s House Health Care Budget Subcommittee spent more than an hour asking the state Agency for Health Care Administration about $10 million that was donated to Hope Florida as part of a settlement agreement with the state’s largest Medicaid operator. The AHCA settlement was included in the minutes of an Oct. 14 board meeting of the Hope Florida Foundation.

The board minutes also bring up a “strategic partnership” between Hope Florida and Secure Florida’s Future.

The Hope Florida board minutes refer to the partnership with Secure Florida’s Future as a grant proposal that was developed by the “Department and Executive Administration,” to engage with business and community partners and advance Hope Florida’s mission.

“Secure Florida’s Future is uniquely positioned to enhance awareness of Hope Florida’s efforts within the private sector using a data-driven approach,” the minutes said.

Hope Florida is a nonprofit organization associated with the Florida Department of Children and Families, which convinced a joint-legislative committee to approve the transfer of $20.7 million in unspent Covid federal housing assistance money to Hope Florida.

This transfer of funds was approved on Oct. 24 — about the time the Hope Florida board discussed the grant proposal and partnership with the chamber’s anti-pot initiative. The Hope Florida board minutes also discuss memos that were created to memorialize each cash disbursement approved by the panel. DCF could not provide the memos, or provide any other details about the spending in response to requests made by POLITICO on Friday morning.

The Hope Florida Foundation board is chaired by Joshua Hay, who was asked by state House Health Care Budget Subcommittee Chair Alex Andrade to explain the program's finances during a meeting on Wednesday. Andrade said during a Wednesday night podcast with former Rep. Matt Gaetz that if Hay or the other board members fail to appear, he will issue subpoenas to obtain financial records.

The scrutiny of Hope Florida by the state House prompted DeSantis to lash out, accusing the chamber and House Speaker Daniel Perez (R-Miami) of working against other state Republicans. Andrade has also taken heat from DeSantis after he accused the administration of breaking the law by misusing state settlement funds when it brokered a $10 million donation that went to Hope Florida in the last weeks before the November election.

The donation was made by the state’s largest Medicaid managed care operator, Centene, as part of a $67 million settlement involving the operator’s pharmacy benefit manager. During a Thursday news conference, DeSantis said the $67 million deal was the best that staffers with the state Agency for Health Care Administration could negotiate with Centene, saying the case was not very strong.

However, Centene wrote in a statement provided to POLITICO on Friday that ACHA directed the terms of the settlement along with the state Attorney General’s office.

The settlement agreement was signed on Sept. 27 by Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard, then-AHCA Secretary Jason Weida, and Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky.

“The allocation of funds detailed in the settlement document was directed by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and approved by the Florida Attorney General’s Office,” the Centene statement said. “Centene had no part in or knowledge of any decision by the Hope Florida Foundation regarding the subsequent use of any Foundation funds."

The political committee that was set up to oppose Amendment 3 was chaired by James Uthmeier, then also working as chief of staff for DeSantis. DeSantis appointed him as Florida’s attorney general earlier this year.

Campaign records show Keep Florida Clean received $4.85 million from Secure Florida’s Future, most of it coming in October after the Hope Florida Foundation approved the grant. Save our Society from Drugs donated $5.75 million as well, with most of the money coming in late October.

Keep Florida Clean in October steered $11.5 million to the Republican Party of Florida, which wound up airing more than $16 million worth of television ads opposed to Amendment 3, according to an analysis done by AdImpact. One of the ads featured Casey DeSantis, as well as a top official in the Florida Highway Patrol, urging voters to defeat the amendment.

Uthmeier did not respond to a request for comment Friday about the transactions between Hope Florida Foundation and the political committee he led to defeat the amendment.

Keep Florida Clean recently shut down. But before it did, the committee sent more than $1.2 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another committee led by Uthmeier that DeSantis has said he plans to use to help aid candidates in the 2026 election.