House abruptly drops its Hope Florida investigation for the session
Florida Channel screenshot of Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in St. Augustine on April 23, 2025.
A high-profile inquiry by the Florida House into a charity associated with an initiative started by First Lady Casey DeSantis has abruptly come to an end, at least for now.
The investigation concerned a $10 million 'donation' to the Hope Florida Foundation from health care giant Centene, but a top Republican said the chamber had learned enough to inform policy decisions the body needs to make during the regular legislative session.
The decision came after a trio of people Andrade asked to appear before the committee on Thursday refused to show — which he attributed to fear, given the stakes.
'$10 millions is a lot of money in the real world, right? If someone defrauded the state or a charity out of $10 million, they would go to prison,' he said.
The Hope Florida Foundation is a direct-service organization that helps serve the Hope Florida program, which aims to remove people from Medicaid and food assistance by connecting them with 'navigators' in state agencies who work with faith-based communities and other private sector efforts to transition people to financial security.
Andrade, chairman of the House Health Care Budget Committee, said the House did not intend to subpoena anyone or force delivery of requested information. 'Everyone and their mother knows what happened,' he told reporters.
He criticized Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was chief of staff for Gov. Ron DeSantis at the time the foundation got the money that it subsequently sent to two political committees that then made substantial donations to a third committee battling a citizens' to legalize marijuana. Uthmeier controlled the third committee, Keep Florida Clean.
The transactions were first reported by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald.
'I'm a legislator making policy decisions, and I'm comfortable making the policy decisions based on the fact that James Uthmeier was involved, transferred this money illicitly, misled people and lied to people in the process, harmed several people in their jobs in the process, caused innumerable harm to several people, and that harm is not fully realized yet.'
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Andrade had invited Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and chair of Secure Florida's Future; Amy Ronshausen, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs; and Tallahassee attorney and Hope Florida Foundation legal counsel Jeff Aaron to appear at the meeting but none showed.
Ten million dollars is a lot of money in the real world, right? If someone defrauded the state or a charity out of $10 million they would go to prison.
– Rep. Alex Andrade
The $10 million came from health care giant Centene in settlement of a legal dispute over overpayments of Medicaid pharmacy benefits. It was part of a larger $67 million settlement with the state in September 2024.
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris insisted that the $10 million wasn't taxpayer money, but rather a donation in addition to the settlement payment, and so have other DeSantis officials.
Appearing at a press conference at a church in St. Augustine, DeSantis didn't comment on the dropped investigation. Instead, he and First Lady Casey DeSantis touted the Hope Florida program once again, asserting that it has helped more than 30,000 Floridians reduce or completely eliminate their reliance on public assistance.
They asserted that the program would save taxpayers 'over $100 million a year.' They have provided no documentation proving that, however.
Casey DeSantis spoke extensively about the work done by Hope Florida, including with the faith-based community. 'What we are doing is good,' she said. 'What we are doing is just. Sometimes you have to put on the full armor of God and you fight, because you know what you're doing is righteous.'
Her only direct reference to the growing controversy was to say, 'No matter what is written, don't ever let politics get in the way of purpose.'
When asked by a reporter to comment about whether the $10 million came from Medicaid dollars, the governor said that documents released earlier this week by the the Florida AHCA 'totally debunks the bogus media narratives that were out there.'
'Why are they doing narrative?' he asked he said of news organizations. 'They're not doing it because they really care about that,' he said. 'They're doing it to try to impugn Hope Florida. They're trying to smear this program. They don't like working with the faith based community.'
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