Amid scrutiny by lawmakers into the Hope Florida Foundation, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday the charity operated by his wife will add a liaison to every state college.
The liaisons will act as a point of contact between Florida's 28 state colleges and Hope Florida, training others on the philosophy and foundations of the foundation, DeSantis said when he made the announcement at a press conference at Pensacola State College.
The foundation, conceived by First Lady Casey DeSantis in 2021, is a program within the Florida Department of Children and Families that aims to connect people in need with faith-based and community organizations.
The announcement comes amid an investigation from House Republicans into Hope Florida's finances and operations. Lawmakers have questioned whether Hope Florida siphoned millions of dollars in Medicaid funding into political campaigns against the failed ballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana.
Hours before the announcement of Hope Florida's expansion, a Senate committee was supposed to consider legislation that would enshrine the foundation in state law. Instead, the committee announced it would temporarily postpone the bills without explanation.
During Tuesday's press conference, DeSantis fired back at what he called a "lackluster" and "treacherous" agenda in the Legislature, saying the legal questions into Hope Florida were a manufactured smear campaign.
The governor slammed House Republicans, saying there was something "rotten" in the conservative supermajority.
"This is the least productive Florida House of Representatives in the modern history of the Florida Republican Party," he said.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the DeSantis administration siphoned $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, which then gave $5 million each to two organizations that donated millions to a campaign against legalizing recreational marijuana.
The grant funds were given to Secure Florida's Future and Save Our Society from Drugs, which donated a collective $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee aimed at defeating Amendment 3 and run by DeSantis' then-chief of staff James Uthmeier.
During a Tuesday House committee budget meeting, legislators grilled Hope Florida board chairman Joshua Hay on the foundation's financial and operational policies.
Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, who chairs the House Healthcare Budget Subcommittee and has spearheaded the investigation into Hope Florida, asked Hay whether he believed $10 million in grants was used appropriately.
"I cannot confirm what the funds were used for," Hay said. "We have no monitoring procedures. We have no staff."
Andrade also questioned why Hope Florida chose to retain attorney Jeff Aaron as its lawyer instead of using the same general counsel as the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Andrade said in the committee meeting he's requesting documentation, including text messages and call logs, from Aaron and Uthmeier about Hope Florida. If the documents aren't given voluntarily, Andrade said he plans to subpoena.
"I have serious concerns about what might be occurring in the post-dating of documentation to attempt to justify and cover up what actually happened," Andrade said.
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