$10M Medicaid Settlement Raises Alarms Over Political Spending Tied to DeSantis’ Anti-Cannabis Push

LOS ANGELES- Florida’s medical settlement funds are under scrutiny after a $10 million payment intended for charitable use was channeled to two organizations that later fueled a high-dollar campaign against adult-use cannabis in the state.

The controversy centers around Governor Ron DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis, and the Hope Florida Foundation—a nonprofit closely tied to the First Lady’s flagship initiative aimed at reducing reliance on public assistance. Just weeks after the DeSantis administration directed $10 million from a Medicaid settlement with Centene—the state’s largest Medicaid contractor—to the foundation, the funds were split evenly between two politically connected organizations: Secure Florida’s Future, a Florida Chamber of Commerce-affiliated entity, and Save Our Society from Drugs, a nonprofit known for its anti-cannabis stance.

Both groups had submitted grant proposals in mid-October. By month’s end, each received $5 million. Records now show those same groups later transferred millions to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee controlled by DeSantis’ then-chief of staff James Uthmeier, in an effort to defeat Amendment 3—the adult-use legalization initiative that ultimately failed at the ballot box.

In total, Keep Florida Clean funneled $10.5 million to the Republican Party of Florida and $1.1 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another political vehicle chaired by Uthmeier and tied directly to DeSantis. The precise flow of funds remains opaque, but the alignment of grant timing, political donations, and campaign messaging is raising serious ethical and legal questions.

Florida House Republicans, including Speaker Daniel Perez and Rep. Alex Andrade, have launched inquiries into the administration’s handling of the settlement funds, with Andrade calling the situation “criminal fraud by some of those involved.”

Critics argue the arrangement amounts to a workaround that diverted public money through a nonprofit into political campaigning—potentially endangering the nonprofit status of the Hope Florida Foundation. Federal law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from devoting a substantial portion of their activity to political advocacy.

“This looks like a slush fund for political interests masquerading as a charity,” said one campaign finance watchdog. “If proven, it could cost the foundation its 501(c)(3) status.”

For its part, the DeSantis camp has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for the Florida Freedom Fund called the accusations “absolutely false,” and representatives for the Hope Florida Foundation insist no money was improperly used.

Yet, questions linger. The grant applications provided few specifics on how funds would be deployed. One proposal described raising awareness and “partner recruitment,” while the other vaguely referenced strategies to address the substance use crisis.

Meanwhile, the organizations that received the grants have declined to confirm whether any of the funds were used in the campaign against cannabis legalization. The parallels to a previous scandal involving Donald Trump—who was fined for using charitable funds to support a political candidate—have not gone unnoticed.

At the center of this unfolding story is Amendment 3, the failed ballot measure that would have legalized recreational cannabis in Florida. While it was defeated, the financial pathways leading to that outcome may prove even more consequential for the state’s political landscape.