Gabrielle Russon
Key officials with ties to the Hope Florida scandal were no-shows to testify at a House panel, prompting it to end in less than 10 minutes.
But Republican Rep. Alex Andrade issued a stern rebuke to Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and others as he presented the case against Hope Florida Foundation and the $10 million the state steered to the charity.
With the 2025 Session scheduled to end next week, Andrade told Florida Politics that he plans to craft legislation next Session targeting Hope Florida to prevent future misspending. Andrade chaired the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee probe into Hope Florida.
At Thursday’s hearing, Andrade warned the Florida Chamber of Commerce to be “extremely concerned,” as he accused the organization of being complicit in the scandal.
An arm of the Florida Chamber of Commerce received money from Hope Florida, then transferred $3.75 million to Uthmeier’s political committee. Uthmeier was then serving as DeSantis’ Chief of Staff.
Florida Chamber CEO Mark Wilson refused to appear in Tallahassee Thursday, and the Chamber did not immediately respond to a Florida Politics request for comment.
“It does appear from everything indicated by Mr. Wilson, they were complicit and had full knowledge of what they were doing in the misuse of these Medicaid funds,” Andrade said.
Andrade wrote on social media Thursday, “They obviously have no concern for everyday Floridians, or being good stewards of taxpayers’ money.”
With no one to question publicly at the hearing and no new correspondence or financial records, the meeting ended swiftly. Andrade said he had not issued any subpoenas like he originally threatened because he didn’t want to create “spectacle” with DeSantis’ Office.
Andrade added that Thursday’s no-shows confirmed his belief that public corruption took place regarding the Hope Florida Foundation.
“In the real world, if someone defrauded the state or a charity out of $10 million someone would go to prison. This isn’t Camp Tallahassee — this is real money,” Andrade said in an interview after the meeting.
Questions started after Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid contractor, wound up in a national dispute due to overbilling. That prompted a $67 million settlement between the state and Centene in 2023.
Centene wired $10 million from the settlement in October 2024 to the Hope Florida Foundation. At that point, the organization had never raised more than $2 million or given out more than $50,000 in a single grant, Andrade said. Hope Florida is First Lady Casey DeSantis’ pet project to help Floridians get off welfare and mobilize religious communities to help.
“Unlike every other state in the country, no announcement was made by the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) or the Governor’s Office informing the public of the settlement,” Andrade said. “It appears that Florida is the only state to direct a portion of their settlement amount to a charity, let alone a charity spearheaded by a Governor’s spouse.”
Hope Florida then funneled millions to the Chamber’s initiative, Secure Florida’s Future, and another group, Save Our Society From Drugs, that ended financing Uthmeier’s PC to help defeat last year’s marijuana ballot initiative.
“Simply put, there’s no question that these were Medicaid funds steered by the Governor’s Chief of Staff through secret and clandestine actions to his own political committee,” Andrade said Thursday. “It’s readily apparent that a culture of neglect and competence and entitlement exists within the halls of the Governor’s Office.”
Hope Florida was a direct support organization under the Department of Children and Families (DCF), but no one at DCF or the Hope Florida Foundation was notified about the initial $10 million donation, Andrade said.
Also under fire was Jeff Aaron, Hope Florida’s new attorney with deep ties to DeSantis, who helped the money transfer in October, Andrade said.
DeSantis and Uthmeier both have denied wrongdoing and said House Republicans’ probe into Hope Florida is politically motivated.
“In response to these revelations, Mr. Uthmeier and AHCA have embarked on a disinformation campaign,” Andrade said Thursday. “Mr. Uthmeier expects us to believe that he had no knowledge of the settlement terms despite his heavy involvement since 2022 in the negotiations.”
Andrade acknowledged that lawmakers are “not judges or prosecutors” and “will not be the ones making the ultimate charging decisions” as he awaits to see if the federal government criminally investigates.
Looking ahead to the next Session, Andrade said he plans to pursue legislation to enhance criminal penalties of officials who misuse Medicaid money, add stronger requirements for state agencies to report settlement agreements, and add accountability on how that money is spent. Andrade also said Hope Florida Foundation’s board needs to be dissolved or restructured.
“I’m sure I’ll be coming up with ideas all Summer to address this corruption,” Andrade added.
