DeSantis defends $10 million donation from state agency settlement to
charity linked to his wife
[April 11, 2025]
By STEPHANY MATAT
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday
defended a state agency's involvement with a $10 million donation to a
charity founded by his wife as a “cherry on top” deal using funds from a
settlement between the agency and the state’s largest Medicaid
contractor.
DeSantis spoke after House Republicans this week questioned the donation
to the Hope Florida initiative founded by his wife, Casey DeSantis.
The donation was part of a $67 million settlement last fall between the
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Centene Corporation
involving overpayments related to pharmacy benefit managers. State law
mandates that money from the settlement be put in a trust fund or a
general fund under legislative oversight.
“When you do settlements, you can try to get as much money as you can,
but this was in addition to what they were getting. This is kind of like
a cherry on top where they agreed to make an additional contribution,
and so we were served well by what ACHA did,” DeSantis said at a news
conference.
DeSantis called the settlement “100% appropriate" and said Republican
lawmakers were “grasping at straws” to reflect negatively on the
settlement, which he said has “nothing to do with Hope Florida.”
The Hope Florida initiative was launched in 2021 by Casey DeSantis as a
conservative approach to welfare focused on helping people become less
reliant on taxpayer-funded services. According to state records, the
nonprofit Hope Florida Foundation was established in 2023.
Republican lawmakers have voiced concerns that taxpayer funds may have
been used to prop up the first lady’s key initiative, which could boost
her resume in a potential campaign for governor in 2026. The current
governor is in his second term and is term-limited.
House Speaker Daniel Perez on Wednesday defended lawmakers' questions
about the donation, saying they mostly want to know how the money was
received, where it went, how it was used and why.
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Florida first lady Casey DeSantis listens to Gov. Ron DeSantis
during a panel discussion at the 2024 Florida Children and Families
Summit at the JW Marriott Grand Lakes in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday,
Sept. 4, 2024. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
“So far it looks as though it could be illegal,” Perez said.
“That $10 million was state money,” Republican Rep. Alex Andrade
said Wednesday during a tense hearing with a state agency head who
oversaw Hope Florida. “I still have no idea why this was justified.
I have very strong beliefs that this was not legal.”
For weeks, DeSantis has asked lawmakers to pass legislation to
create a Hope Florida Office under the governor's oversight, expand
the program's reach and require state agencies to participate.
An analysis by House legislative staff released last week delved
deeper into the program's charity arm, noting that the Hope Florida
Foundation appears to be out of compliance with multiple state laws.
According to the findings, the foundation has failed to submit an
annual audit to the state's auditor general and hasn't published
legally required information, including a brief description of its
mission, a three-year financial plan, its code of ethics and its tax
forms. Hope Florida did not provide required documents when asked to
do so by House staff, according to the analysis.
Casey DeSantis is not listed as an officer of the nonprofit,
according to state records. Website records from the Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services, where nonprofits are required to
report financial information, do not include any documents from the
Hope Florida Foundation.
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