Florida officials diverted $10M health care settlement to DeSantis' wife's charity: report

how is this legal, or is it?

the state entered into a settlement that sent cash directly to her control and bypassed the legislature and now theya re refusing to release the settlement that details what they are claiming, ie, money wasn't ever paid to state so taxpayers have no say over it.

Florida officials diverted $10M health care settlement to DeSantis' wife's charity: report

The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis diverted $10 million in settlement money with the state Agency for Health Care Administration into the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity run by his wife Casey DeSantis to reshape welfare assistance, reported the Miami Herald on Tuesday.

Hope Florida, created in 2022, has a mission to reduce lower-income people's reliance on government aid by connecting people who would otherwise need food assistance or subsidized health care with faith-based organizations and related NGOs.

"The unusual injection of cash was part of an undisclosed settlement agreement involving Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration," reported Lawrence Mower and Alexandra Glorioso. "Under Florida law, money from certain settlement agreements must be deposited into a state trust fund or the general revenue fund, where lawmakers can decide how to spend it. It’s not clear whether the law applies because the state is refusing to release the settlement’s details, including the circumstances or parties involved."

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the DeSantis administration said “this money was not paid to the state,” and thus it is not covered under the law about settlements.

 

a representative of the guvnr negotiated a punitive settlement that directed cash directly into an account under the control of the guvnr's wife. what do you think?

1. any funds from punitive settlements are required by law to go into the general fund and the legislature decide how to distribute it

"Under Florida law, money from certain settlement agreements must be deposited into a state trust fund or the general revenue fund, where lawmakers can decide how to spend it.

2. any agreement between the public and others is public record and they are refusing to release it

 

Nothing shady here

from the article

Last week, staffers working for the Republican-controlled House of Representatives asserted that Hope Florida’s fundraising arm was not complying with state laws governing its oversight, ethics or fundraising.
Reporters for the Times/Herald visited Hope Florida Foundation’s headquarters Friday to review the records it filed with the IRS. As a registered nonprofit, the IRS requires the foundation’s documents be made available immediately if someone requests them in person. But an employee told the reporters their request “will be returned in the order it was received” and told them they could leave.

The foundation has never publicly disclosed its donors or the names of the churches and nonprofits receiving its funds. It has not responded to journalists’ records requests.

Yet a $10 million contribution was mentioned in a copy of the foundation’s board meeting minutes from October obtained by the Times/Herald.“The resolution of a longstanding dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the state has resulted in a $10 million allocation to the Hope Florida Foundation,” the Oct. 14 minutes state.

What the “longstanding dispute” was regarding, or who it involved, is unclear. The settlement does not appear in the Agency for Health Care Administration’s online settlement database.

 

hmmmmm..blood in the water??

they looked the other way on the refugee flights when he still had a pocket full of covid money..

it appears that legally he is dead in the water

it appears that they diverted $10M of a settlement with the state directly to her charity instead of to the general fund as the law requires. It shouldn't matter if that is the way the agreement is written or not. And Desi knows it.

will they slay the dragon or hold the sword over his head?

Republican Infighting Breaks Out in Florida

GOP infighting has broken out in Florida as Republicans seek to investigate the finances of a program led by first lady Casey DeSantis. Governor Ron DeSantis has accused House Republicans of launching a "smear campaign" against his wife and her Hope Florida Foundation. Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez has suggested that millions of dollars allocated to the foundation from a state settlement may have been illegal.
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Further scrutiny followed a report by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times alleging that Hope Florida gave $5 million each to two organizations that later contributed a combined $8.5 million to a political committee opposing a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida last November.

A spokesperson for Ron DeSantis' Florida Freedom Fund told the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times that it was "absolutely false" that any of the $10 million was reallocated to the governor's Keep Florida Clean political committee opposing Amendment 3. The proposal to change the state's constitution to legalize marijuana failed to reach the 60 percent supermajority required for adoption.
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Florida law requires that settlement funds be deposited into a state trust fund or the general revenue fund, where lawmakers determine how the money can be spent. The $10 million payment from the AHCA settlement was not publicly disclosed, raising concerns about transparency involving Casey DeSantis' foundation.