TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Lawmakers questioned Hope Florida officers Tuesday morning to additional examine these concerned within the ongoing probe into the non-profit and a mysterious cash path tied to a $10 million Medicaid settlement.
The central concern: How funds from final yr’s Medicaid settlement might have been funneled, doubtlessly illegally, into political organizations.
Throughout Tuesday’s committee assembly, Home members questioned Taylor Hatch from the Division of Kids and Households, Joshua Hay, President of The Hope Florida Basis, Inc., and Erik Dellenback, the Govt Director of Hope Florida, on their information and involvement within the state of affairs.
Key considerations raised included: Who’s defending this pot of cash? How did it get from level A to level B? And is there motive to consider this was all fraud?
“In latest weeks, the general public reporting has made evident that errors had been made. There are lapses in reporting procedures, and the muse was not supplied with the staffing assist essential to make sure all issues had been being shortly and appropriately dealt with,” Hay stated.
Hay plans to carry a gathering with the Hope Florida Basis Board Thursday to debate subsequent steps and invitations the general public and all events to attend.
Each Democrats and Republicans contained in the statehouse expressed skepticism, pointing fingers at Florida’s Lawyer Basic, James Uthmiere, suggesting he performed a direct position in steering funds.
“The Hope Florida basis gave two $5,000,000 grants to a pair of darkish cash teams who days later gave hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to a political committee set as much as defeat the marijuana legalization constitutional modification,” stated State Consultant Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa). “This political committee was managed by James Uthmiere.”
State Consultant Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola) echoed these considerations.
“I do know that he reached out personally to Safe Florida’s Future and Save Our Society from Medicine. I do know that he performed a task within the settlement at AHCA that steered this cash to the Hope Florida basis, and cash instantly ended up in his checking account,” Andrade stated. “He knew the place that cash got here from; he knew it was Medicaid cash; he knew it went to a 501c3; after which he knew it ended up in his checking account. That is our AG? That is one of the best Florida has to supply?”
Andrade, a key Republican following the Hope Florida cash path, wasn’t totally happy with the solutions he obtained in committee, saying he plans to carry one other panel dialogue subsequent week on Thursday.
Governor Ron DeSantis additionally chimed in on the controversy, utilizing the second to name out Republicans within the Home, as soon as once more.
“We have now this virtually 3-to-1 tremendous majority of Republicans within the Florida Home of Representatives, and it’s rotten,” DeSantis stated. “They’re behaving extra like Democrats, and they’re colluding with the left and colluding with the media and to attempt to sabotage all the good success that Florida has had during the last six years.”
