Politics
Members Of Congress Want Federal Investigation Into Use Of Florida Medicaid Funds To Oppose Marijuana Legalization By Group Tied To DeSantis
Two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida are asking the federal government to investigate what they describe as “potentially unlawful diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds via a group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The money was used to fight against a citizen ballot initiative, vehemently opposed by DeSantis, that would have legalized marijuana for adults.
Reps. Kathy Castor and Darren Soto sent a letter on Thursday to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general as well as Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, formally requesting they initiate a Medicaid fraud investigation.
“The diversion of Medicaid dollars requires immediate investigation,” the two lawmakers wrote. “These are proceeds that rightfully belong to state taxpayers to serve the citizens who rely on Medicaid, including children, pregnant women, neighbors with disabilities and those served by long-term care.”
The two lawmakers, members of a House committee with oversight of Medicaid, emphasized that Congress is “very focused on waste, fraud and abuse of Medicaid dollars.”
“Any unlawful diversion of Medicaid dollars in Florida,” they wrote, “means that the state is less able to provide services to our neighbors who rely on Medicaid and the providers who serve them.”
The letter follows allegations that a $10 million donation from a state legal settlement was improperly made to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, which in turn sent $8.5 million to a campaign opposing the proposed marijuana legalization ballot measure, Amendment 3.
Notably, the Hope Florida Foundation was founded by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife.
“On October 17, Secure Florida’s Future donated $2 million to Keep Florida Clean Inc., a Political Action Committee (PAC) controlled by Governor DeSantis’s then-chief of staff James Uthmeier that was created to campaign against Amendment 3,” the lawmakers’ new letter says. “Governor DeSantis strongly opposed Amendment 3. Days later, Secure Florida’s Future sent Keep Florida Clean Inc. an additional $1.75 million.”
“On October 22, the Hope Florida Foundation wired $5 million to the 501(c)4 nonprofit Save Our Society from Drugs that proposed spending the ‘grant’ on ‘developing and implementing strategies that directly address the substance use crisis facing our communities,'” it continues, detailing the alleged impropriety. “On October 23, the next day, Save Our Society from Drugs donated $1.6 million to Keep Florida Clean Inc. Over the coming days, Save Our Society from Drugs donated an additional $3.15 million to Keep Florida Clean Inc.”
“While there are limited financial disclosure requirements associated with 501(c)4 organizations,” the lawmakers said, “records appear to show that a total of $8.5 million from the Centene settlement with AHCA went from the Hope Florida Foundation to the Amendment 3-focused Keep Florida Clean, Inc. PAC, the same PAC that also donated funding to the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida Freedom Fund. ”
“Hope Florida had raised only about $2 million during its three years of existence,” they pointed out, “but in one fell swoop, received $10 million from a Medicaid settlement, which was immediately funneled through other nonprofits to a PAC directed by the Governor’s Chief of Staff.”
Reporters at the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald first uncovered the financial moves, which spurred an investigation by a panel of state lawmakers. That ended last month without any definite action, with the body’s chair, state Rep. Alex Andrade (R), saying any charging decisions would be made by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Andrade had described the alleged funding activity as potential conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, but later said that “the best avenue is probably a federal investigation because…these were Medicaid dollars.”
Castor and Soto said in the new letter that transferring Medicaid dollars “to a charitable committee and then political committees appears to run afoul of federal law, including 18 U.S.C. 1347 (to knowingly execute or attempt a scheme to defraud a health care benefit program or obtain money from it) and 18 U.S.C. 371 (for two or more people to agree to defraud the United States.), and may implicate other relevant statutes and regulations.”
A press release from Castor’s office emphasized that during a recent congressional hearing, “Republicans repeatedly claimed…that they were concerned about waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid.”
“Castor and Soto now point to a concrete example of potential fraud and abuse,” the release says, “while urging an immediate investigation into this inappropriate diversion of taxpayer funds to an unrelated political action committee.”
While the Trump administration has taken little federal action around marijuana, Oz, to whom the new letter is addressed, is among its more pro-cannabis members. In recent years, he’s encouraged audiences to be open to therapeutic cannabis and advocated for sweeping policy changes around the drug.
“We ought to completely change our policy on marijuana. It absolutely works,” he said in a 2020 interview, calling cannabis “one of the most underused tools in America.”
Meanwhile in Florida, DeSantis this week signed a wide-ranging agriculture bill into law that contains, among other provisions, a new prohibition on the spores of psychedelic mushrooms.
The psychedelic mushroom spore ban is just one provision of the roughly 150-page agriculture bill, which also contains a new ban on local governments from adding fluoride to public drinking water—an issue that dominated debate as the proposal made its way through the legislature.
The successful enactment of the psychedelic mushroom spore ban into law comes as several measures to expand medical cannabis access died in the Florida legislature this session. Lawmakers also failed to advance a proposal to restrict intoxicating hemp products to enactment this year.
DeSantis also recently signed a separate bill into law will create new hurdles for advocates aiming to put ballot initiatives before voters—including, potentially, the renewed effort to legalize marijuana in the state.
Among other requirements, the law mandates that supporters post a $1 million bond before commencing signature gathering, prohibits the use of out-of-state and noncitizen petitioners and narrows the window during which which signatures must be submitted to election officials.
Critics have said the new changes will impede Floridians’ ability to have their voices heard. One group, hoping to qualify a measure that would expand Medicaid in the state, has already sued the DeSantis administration over the new law.
The new obstacles to placing a proposal on the statewide ballot come on the heels of two contentious constitutional amendments that went before voters last year, including one—Amendment 3—that would have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and older, and another on abortion rights.
The campaign for the marijuana measure, Smart & Safe Florida, took in more than $150 million in campaign funds—with most from large cannabis companies such as Trulieve, a multi-state operator that contributed tens of millions of dollars.
It also clashed with DeSantis as well as the state Republican Party, the latter of which Smart & Safe Florida later sued for allegedly deceiving voters about the measure.
The cannabis campaign recently joined organizations focused on other issues in litigation against the new ballot restrictions.
After Amendment 3 last year failed to win the 60 percent voter support needed to pass a constitutional amendment, Smart & Safe Florida is now aiming to put a revised legalization proposal on the 2026 state ballot.
Under the new law, signatures collected before enactment would not be subjected to the revised restrictions. Smart & Safe Florida has so far submitted just under, the 220,016 valid signatures needed to trigger a judicial and financial impact review of the proposal.
A total of 880,062 valid signatures statewide are currently needed to make the 2026 ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Meanwhile in Florida, state elections officials recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Smart & Safe Florida campaign, alleging that the group has “committed multiple election law violations.”
The Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS)—part of Florida’s Department of State—also fined Smart & Safe Florida more than $120,000 for submitting completed petitions more than 30 days after they were signed.
The issue was referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a “potential criminal investigation.”
In a statement to Marijuana Moment at the time, a campaign representative said it has confidence in the process and intends to push back on the state’s assertion it violated election law.
“The claims made appear to be a targeted effort to thwart the ability for the people of Florida to express their support of a citizen-driven amendment,” the statement says. “We stand by the process and had legal counsel vet all forms and communications prior to mailing and look forward to challenging the validity of these claims.”
New GOP Congressional Bills Would Block Use Of Federal Welfare Funds At Marijuana Dispensaries
