DeSantis blames political foes for questions about $10M donation to Hope Florida Foundation

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the legality of a arguable $10 cardinal donation during a Wednesday sojourn to Fort Pierce. He was determination to announce grants for vocational grooming that included $4.9 cardinal to Miami Dade College’s craft mechanics program.

Political foes person accused the DeSantis medication of allowing Medicaid dollars to beryllium diverted to a instauration that past passed it down to committees campaigning against legalizing recreational marijuana.

Republican lawmakers are investigating the legality of the donation, arsenic DeSantis faced absorption connected an migration measure and connected Everglades restoration funds.

“They don’t privation to bash thing I privation to do, truthful they’re fundamentally trying to rotation backmost everything we’ve done for the past six years,” said DeSantis, portion helium stood down a “Florida’s Economy Leads the Nation” sign.

The arguable $10 cardinal donation was imaginable aft Florida was among implicit 20 states that filed civilian lawsuits against Centene Corp., a for-profit healthcare institution based successful Missouri.

The lawsuits alleged that the state’s Medicaid programs had overpaid for medicine drugs since the company’s pharmacy payment manager did not set prices to bespeak manufacturers’ rebates.

Centene Corp. agreed to wage a $67 cardinal currency colony to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the state’s main wellness argumentation and readying entity, records show.

The colony included a $10 cardinal donation to The Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit enactment linked to the state-run Hope Florida program.

First Lady Casey DeSantis has described Hope Florida, the state-run program, arsenic an alternate to nationalist payment programs since it includes navigators who are trained to link those successful request to nonprofit resources.

“It shows that she’s really made a difference. I cognize there’s radical that are threatened by that,” DeSantis said referring to the contention implicit the $10 million.

In a caller missive to authorities lawmakers, Andrew T. Sheeran, the wide counsel for AHCA successful Tallahassee, wrote that the instrumentality does not prohibit the authorities from negotiating a colony that requires “actions different than paying wealth to the State.”

The questions travel arsenic the state’s archetypal woman whitethorn determine to measurement up arsenic a gubernatorial campaigner successful 2026 aft President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, who already announced his candidacy. Also, the politician whitethorn determine to tally for president again successful 2028.

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