The Tampa Bay Times has tracked how the $10 million ACHA settlement given to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida Foundation was spent. The funds ultimately supported her husband’s efforts to defeat the recreational pot amendment last year after being channeled through a nonprofit and a Florida Chamber of Commerce foundation.
Timeline
- 9/28/24: Centene signed a settlement deal with the Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA), which included giving Hope Florida $10 million.
- 10/13/24: Secure Florida’s Future, run by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, submitted a grant asking for $5 million.
New Documents
We have received a copy of the $5 million grant request made by Secure Florida’s Future, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.
- The funds were to be used for “embarking on a long-term, targeted business partner recruitment strategy and public awareness program,” according to Secure Florida’s Future chairman Mark Wilson.
How? “Specifically, awareness will be raised through webinars, podcasts, in-person statewide summits and meetings, newsletters, surveys, e-communications to business community leaders, making up our membership and partners. In addition, we would consider a direct mail and/or digital campaign strategy highlighting the importance of this work and the need for further private sector collaboration.”
Florida Law and IRS Code
Secure Florida chairman Mark Wilson understood the law regarding the $5 million. He wrote:
“Secure Florida Future is not registered, and is not required to be registered, as a political committee under federal state, or local elections laws, and it will not engage in activities that would require it to register as a political committee.”
“Your donation is not designated for and has not been solicited for any specific use or support of any third-party entity,” he wrote. “Secure Florida’s Future does not make independent expenditures or electioneering communications in any federal, state, or local elections.”
The minutes for the Hope Florida Foundation show the board approved the grant on Oct. 14, 2024, a day after Wilson submitted the Secure Florida proposal.
On Oct. 17, Secure Florida’s Future gave $2 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee controlled by James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ then-chief of staff and now Florida Attorney General. Keep Florida Clean campaigned against Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana.
- Two more transfers to Keep Florida Clean followed: 10/24/24 $1,500,000 and 10/29/24 $250,000
Total distribution by Secure Florida’s Future to Keep Florida Clean after receiving the Hope Florida grant: $3,750,000, leaving it with $1,250,000.
- Secure Florida had already given Keep Florida Clean $1,100,000 on 9/12/24.
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DeSantis supporters have argued that it’s not uncommon for settlement agreements to include a “voluntary” donation to a charity. Others have said the $10 millions weren’t tax dollars, so ACHA was required to report the settlement to the Florida Legislature.
Andrade has responded that the settlement concerned Medicaid dollars and should have been returned to the state’s Medicaid fund.
He had AI (X’s Grok 3) answer whether it is illegal to use Medicaid funds to pay for campaign advertising: