TALHASSEE — Senator Florida will not cover the confirmation of two DeSantis administration officials who were questioned about Hope Florida earlier this month.
Shevon Harris, secretary of the Healthcare Administration, and Taylor Hatch, head of the Children and Family Division, can still be reappointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, Sen. Don Gotz, the chairman of the review committee, is the chairman of the committee that reviews appointees, and said his committee has exhausted time to screen two staff members for the legislative session, which is scheduled to close May 2. The Senate process allows the two-year verification process to be completed.
Gaetz said the decision not to confirm them this year was not directly related to questions about the Florida program and its charity, but because there were other issues surrounding the agency’s actions that state senators hope for their veterinarians.
“I personally don’t expect Florida, but I have a lot of questions to both the secretaries who are involved in other issues related to their department, and I believe that the other senators on our committee are also,” Gaetz said.
The confirmation delay is a sign that the agency head is not only facing surveillance from its Florida home, but also a key initiative in Florida, a key initiative for First Lady Casey DeSantis, but is also investigating from the Florida Senate. News that Harris and Hatch will not be confirmed to this session was first reported by Florida Phoenix.
Gaetz of R-Niceville said he wanted to know more about the $160 million that Congress gave to health care management agencies in 2023. The funds were intended to repay the money paid to the federal government, but the institution spent the money on other things.
This issue was a point of conflict during budget negotiations. Republican US Senator Rick Scott also said he would like to know more about how the nation used it.
Gates, chairman of the Senate Ethics Election Committee, said:
Gaetz said he was “interested” to see where the Florida house survey will end. His son, former US Congressman Matt Getz, is a fierce critic of the First Lady initiative, and has spoken about the issue using his platform as a conservative television host.
The House is investigating the program’s operations and finances, as well as the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity created in recent weeks to support the initiative. The heart of the controversy: The foundation is a $10 million donation received from a $67 million Medicaid settlement that was previously private to the state legislature.
Both Harris and Hatch were burned about Florida Hope during a tense committee hearing at the home this month. The Hope Florida program intends to move Floridians out of government services. The Hope Florida Foundation, a charity, is to support its mission by awarding grants to churches and nonprofits that help those people.
As a former secretary to the children and family, Harris oversaw both the foundation and many of the programs. But she struggled to answer questions from Congressmen about the program’s performance earlier this month and wouldn’t say what the charity did for $10 million.
The Times/Herald later revealed that the charity had given two separate organizations $5 million — the group that saved our society from drugs and made Florida’s future Inc. safe, did not have to disclose donors, and later gave millions to political committees that run an anti-marijuana campaign backed by the governor.
Harris told lawmakers that $10 million was a “separate contribution” from Sentney, not the money owed to the state. However, the 2022 draft settlement agreement acquired by Times/Herald said Centene owes $67 million in reparations to state and federal taxpayers. When Hatch faced a House committee, she didn’t say what the two organizations did with the $5 million grant.
The director of the Hope Florida program will resign from this month onwards. The charity’s board members also resigned this month.
Gaetz said his committee has not been asked by Senate President Ben Albritton to investigate the issue, and his committee generally has no jurisdiction over money inquiries. He denied that delays in confirmation are the way Senate hands have wanted Florida investigations.
“Everyone who imagines some kind of hand of a Senate president with such a confirmed confirmation is imagining something that is not true,” Goetz said. “I am the chairman of the committee. I think I know.”
