The House-led investigation into the scandal involving funds from Hope Florida, a charity run by the wife of Governor Ron DeSantis, being given to political groups to oppose a marijuana legalization amendment, which was voted on last November, has ended. Hope Florida, a charity which is designed to “wean people off Medicaid,” according to Casey DeSantis, was accused of misusing over $10 million in state grant funding to fund PACs to oppose Amendment 3, which would have seen the state legalize Marijuana use at a recreational level. The amendment was defeated at the ballot box by Florida voters, falling short of the 60% supermajority needed to pass the amendment into law. Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, vehemently opposed the amendment during the election season, despite Donald Trump, the national leader of the GOP, endorsing it. Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president in 2024, also supported the amendment, representing a rare instance of bipartisan support on a single issue. DeSantis championed the movement against marijuana legalization and celebrated heavily when the amendment failed to pass.

Florida state Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier talk during the first day of the legislative session at the Florida State Capitol on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Tallahassee. [ PHOTO BY MATIAS J. OCNER | Miami Herald ]

However, a report by the Miami Herald earlier this month revealed that over $10 million in state grants to Hope Florida had mysteriously gone missing, and a majority of the funding was shown to be medicaid funding. The Herald was able to trace the money to massive donations made to several anti-amendment 3 Political Action Committees based across the state. The news caused a massive uproar among the Florida GOP, which has a majority in both state houses. The GOP broke ranks with the Governor and launched a bipartisan investigation into Hope Florida. However, after witnesses and accused perpetrators of the scheme refused to appear before the subcommittee investigating Hope Florida, the investigation was halted by the representative who led it.