What to know about the Hope Florida saga: the program, players and accusations

MIAMI — The Hope Florida story dominated the legislative session like no other.

But it’s a pretty difficult thread to follow. There are a lot of players and numerous accusations being thrown around.

First, let’s set the stage with the key figures.

Gov. Ron DeSantis: He needs no introduction.

First Lady Casey DeSantis: DeSantis’ wife, whose signature initiative is Hope Florida, a program to wean people off of government assistance. DeSantis is widely rumored to be looking at a run for governor in 2026. (Her husband can’t run again because of term limits.)

Attorney General James Uthmeier: Ron DeSantis appointed Uthmeier to attorney general earlier this year. Previously, Uthmeier was DeSantis’ most trusted aide. At various times, he’s served as the governor’s chief of staff, his 2024 presidential campaign manager and his top political consigliere.

Centene: A national health care company that settled with the state for $67 million last year for overbilling Florida’s Medicaid program.

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez: A Miami Republican who has quickly become DeSantis’ chief antagonist in the state. Perez’s House has been the main body investigating Hope Florida.

Florida Rep. Alex Andrade: A Pensacola Republican and chairperson of the House health care budget subcommittee who’s accused the DeSantis administration of improperly funneling state money to a pet political cause.

Now let’s walk through the controversy. Here are six key questions about Hope Florida, answered.

What is the Hope Florida controversy?

House Republicans have accused the DeSantis administration of using a charity related to Hope Florida to siphon public money that primarily goes to poor families into political causes.

It all started in 2021, when state officials got wind of allegations that Centene, a massive health care company with business around the country, had overbilled the state’s Medicaid program by millions.

State officials started settlement talks with Centene soon after. In the end, Centene agreed to pay $67 million back to the state.

The settlement was finalized in September — amid a heated political season in which DeSantis was marshaling opposition to Amendment 3, a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.

From the Centene settlement, the DeSantis administration funneled $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. (More on that group in a bit.) The foundation then gave out $5 million grants to two political groups that do not have to disclose their donors.

Those groups then in turn donated $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, the main group opposing Amendment 3. Keep Florida Clean was being run at the time by Uthmeier, who was then also serving as DeSantis’ chief of staff. (Team DeSantis won at the ballot box: Amendment 3 lost.)

Andrade, the Republican lawmaker, has alleged that Uthmeier told representatives from the two dark money groups to apply for the Hope Florida Foundation grants.

If that happened, he said it would amount to Uthmeier steering money that belongs to the public from the Centene settlement to a political committee he controlled.

In response, Uthmeier’s team has said Andrade is working on behalf of the spurned Florida marijuana industry. In a letter to Andrade, a representative from one of the dark money groups denied that Uthmeier pressured her into steering the grant to his political committee.

Back up. What is Hope Florida?

Casey DeSantis announced the Hope Florida initiative in 2021. The idea was for “hope navigators” with the state to connect those in need to community resources like charities and religious groups.

The idea quickly became a much-ballyhooed part of the DeSantis administration’s approach to social welfare. Although many Hope navigators are housed within the Department of Children and Families, they have become a part of numerous agencies under the governor’s purview. The state put out news releases about Hope Florida connecting those seeking jobs to employment resources; about it assigning long-term mentors to foster care kids and about it awarding grants to nonprofits that the state says are doing good work. The Hope Florida mission is getting people off of government programs like Medicaid — the same program at issue in the political dispute.

The government connecting those in need to local nonprofit resources is not a new idea. A North Carolina program, NCCARE360, which aims to do just that, has been active since 2019. Florida’s 211 system, run by United Way, also does that.

It’s also not clear that Hope Florida has been as much of a success as the DeSantis administration claims. This month, the governor said the program has saved the state of Florida $100 million — without providing evidence. He’s said the program has helped more than 30,000 people either get off government assistance or decrease their dependence on it. But the administration has been repeating that number for the better part of a year, raising questions about its accuracy.

Nevertheless, DeSantis’ team raves about the program, pointing to anecdotal success stories.

“In the two-plus years we’ve been doing Hope Florida, I have never seen anything as transformational within our agencies,” said Liz Phillips, who is now a hope navigator with the Department of Juvenile Justice, at a news conference Thursday.

What is the Hope Florida Foundation?

Hope Florida is the name of the larger government initiative. The foundation is a charity the state set up to bolster the Department of Children and Families’ work. In theory, it collects donations and distributes them to organizations that help get people off of government assistance.

The charity gave away less than 5% of its donations in its first year, according to its tax returns.

The Hope Florida Foundation has an official designation: It’s the direct support organization for the department. That means state law governs how the charity acts, who sits on the board and for what purpose it can raise money.

For years, the Hope Florida Foundation has not complied with a number of these laws, legislative staffers allege. For example, it hasn’t done annual audits as mandated by state law. It was also late in filing its taxes, only doing so after reporters started looking into the charity.

Why is Medicaid so important here?

A major question in the saga hovers over Centene’s $10 million donation to Hope Florida: Was it Medicaid money?

If it was, it could mean serious consequences for the DeSantis administration. Medicaid is a highly regulated joint state and federal program that in Florida largely goes to insuring poor children. Redirecting money from it to an unrelated political campaign is not only a bad political look — it could be a federal crime.

The DeSantis team says the $10 million was not Medicaid money. Last week, the state released a letter showing that Centene paid Florida some $57 million for overbilling Medicaid — plus another $10.8 million for “any other potentially alleged damages.”

DeSantis has called the $10 million a “cherry on top” of the overbilling settlement.

But experts have disputed that characterization. Since Medicaid is a state and federal program, Florida had to pay the federal government back its share of the settlement money. That means it owes the feds 57% of the entire $67 million settlement, according to federal guidance.

“It’s not clear to me why the entire $67 million settlement amount isn’t owed to the state’s Medicaid program,” said Andy Schneider, a research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy who has over 50 years of experience with the Medicaid program.

Why are Republicans antagonizing a Republican governor?

DeSantis hasn’t enjoyed the scrutiny from his fellow Republicans. He’s called the leaders of the Florida House “terrible” and “rotten” for trying to “smear” Hope Florida with their investigation.

His allies say all of it is political. Casey DeSantis is potentially gearing up to run for governor in 2026, and some Republicans want to take her down, they say. (U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds has already earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump in that race.)

House Republicans insist they’re not playing 2026 games. They say they’re all about good government.

“My focus is, and has always been, on transparency and accountability—especially when taxpayer dollars are involved,” Perez wrote in a statement to the Times last week.

Are state lawmakers investigating the Hope Florida Foundation?

Not anymore. Last week, in a surprising move, the Florida House said it was ending its investigation.

Nothing to see here?

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Herald/Times staff writers Lawrence Mower and Alexandra Glorioso contributed to this report.