The board for the Hope Florida Foundation, the charity arm of an initiative helmed by first lady Casey DeSantis, approved a draft audit to be presented to legislative leaders during its meeting Monday.
The foundation is the focus of a grand jury investigation pending since last year over the payment of $10 million it received as part of a settlement between Florida and Centene, a health management organization and Medicaid vendor.
As part of the $67 million settlement to resolve overpayments, $10 million was directed to the Hope Florida Foundation in 2024.
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Then the foundation funneled that money to two nonprofits, which in turn donated the money to a political committee run by James Uthmeier, who at the time was Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff. That committee used the money to combat two proposed ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana and install abortion rights in the state constitution.
Both measures received more than 50 percent of the vote but failed to get the necessary 60 percent to pass.
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The audit report, which still must be finalized, was conducted by the Austin, Texas-based Atchley Associates accounting firm. The report doesn’t address the ethical or legal questions surrounding the $10 million donation and how the group used it, merely on the accuracy of the foundation’s numbers.
For instance, under the heading “concentration of risk” the report notes the large donation from the settlement means the vast majority of the group’s revenue in the 2024-25 fiscal year came from one source, but it doesn’t probe the circumstances of the donation.
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“The Organization had certain donors whose contributions individually represented 10 (percent) or more of total public support and revenue. As of the year ended June 30, 2025, one such donor provided 89 (percent) of public support and revenue,” the report states.
The prior fiscal year, the Hope Florida Foundation received less than $868,000 and gave out $40,000 in grants.
