TALLAHASSEE—There's not a "need" to fund positions in the budget for Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis's Hope Florida charity, one appropriations chair said Wednesday.
Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, the chair of the budget conference on Pre-K-12 Education, noted that while negotiations between the House and Senate are ongoing and subject to change, the House doesn't see a "need" to fund Hope Florida staffers.
Called "Hope navigators," these positions are filled by state workers who direct Floridians in need to nongovernment programs, the Miami Herald reported. And the House's first offer doesn't include any funding for these positions.
The Senate's asks for over $1.1 million.
"At this point, we don't see a need to fund Hope navigators within the proposed budget, but we continue to have conversations on that and on all the items," Persons-Mulicka said in response to a question from The Floridian.
She pointed out that many budget items not directly related to Pre-K through 12 education were picked up by the Senate and not the House, including the Hope navigator items.
The Miami Herald first reported that Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, an outspoken critic of the DeSantis administration, plans to strike funding for 20 Hope navigator positions and six additional proposed slots in the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Andrade spearheaded multiple legislative hearings into the Hope Florida foundation after an explosive Tampa Bay Times report found the organization had not filed its tax forms and had accepted $10 million from a private settlement to the state.
When that money was quietly sent to two non-profits that later donated to a political committee to defeat a marijuana ballot measure, allegations of money laundering and fraud began to abound.
State Attorney Jack Campbell has since launched an investigation into the foundation.
