Florida House probe into ‘Hope Florida’ ends with no-show witnesses, DeSantis’ defend program

Key witnesses no-show 'Hope Florida' hearing

FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - What's next for a State House probe into Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis' "Hope Florida" initiative? Three key witnesses were no-shows on Thursday as House leaders hoped to ask how a $10 million Medicaid settlement wound up in the hands of political action committees that were tightly connected to the governor.

Health budget chair Rep. Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola), invited representatives of "Save our Society from Drugs" and the political action committee connected to the Florida Chamber of Commerce to answer questions about how they got the money. They were the recipients of millions of dollars from Hope Florida, who would have also been questioned about why it was sent to a political action committee headed by Governor Ron DeSantis' chief of staff, James Uthmeier, who is now the state's attorney general.

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"While I'm firmly convinced that James Uthmeier and Jeff Aaron engaged in a conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, and that several parties played a role in the misuse of $10 million in Medicaid funds, we as legislators will not be the ones making the ultimate charging decisions," Andrade said.

The attorney for "Hope Florida," Jeff Aaron, who had already declined to answer questions at a hearing scheduled for Friday, posted, "Now I have more time to draft my defamation lawsuit. Alex Andrade should be ashamed of himself."

What is Hope Florida?

The backstory:

Hope Florida is a project led by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis that, according to its website, is designed to "foster community collaboration between the public and private sector, faith-based communities, and nonprofits, to break down traditional community silos."

State lawmakers have found that Hope Florida gave $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement to non-profits that were fighting Florida's ballot amendments.

The heads of those non-profits are answering questions on Thursday about the grants.

‘People know this is effective’

Gov. DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis spoke in defense of Hope Florida on Thursday as the first lady's initiative faces bipartisan criticism over the $10 million payment.

What they're saying:

At a news conference in St. Augustine on Thursday, the governor and first lady both touted Hope Florida as an initiative they say has made a difference for thousands of Floridians.

"When you see some of these political attacks, that’s just because people know this is effective," Gov. DeSantis said as he clapped back at critics.

Pictured: Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference in St. Augustine on April 24, 2025.

"Hope Florida is not a program. Hope Florida is an idea. Hope Florida is a philosophy. It is: how can we help people in need and do better?" Casey DeSantis said.

Uthmeier said in Tampa this week that lawyers had looked at the state's settlement with Centene over Medicaid payments, and found it to be legal, insisting that it was fair for that money to be used by his PAC to fight against the legalization of marijuana.

"An issue committee can fight against a ballot initiative," Uthmeier said, "and I'm very thankful those groups stepped up and helped us secure a big win."

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Gov. DeSantis has argued the house leaders are trying to make names for themselves and to fight off Casey DeSantis as she considers a run for governor. Hope Florida was her brainchild.

"This has done an enormous amount of good, and I'm proud of the program," the governor said.

The other side:

The DeSantis Administration insists Hope Florida has helped 30,000 people wean off of public assistance programs, saving taxpayers $100 million. But, the program has not provided any receipts as to how they arrived at that number.

The question was asked about potentially impeaching the attorney general on Thursday, but the committee chair said it's not likely an impeachment could be done for acts committed before the person was in office.

He says they have enough as legislators to make policy decisions. The governor is hoping the program will be written into state law, and not just a non-profit operating under DCF.

The Source: This story was written with information from a hearing and news conference on April 24, 2025, along with previous FOX 13 News reports.

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