DeSantis admin diverted child welfare and medical funds for consultants, ads [View all]

During the fight to defeat amendments 3 and 4 last year, Gov. DeSantis’ administration spent at least $36.2 million in taxpayer funds.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed, a Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald investigation has found.

Much of the state money was intended to assist needy Floridians, including children. Instead, it paid for political consultants, lawyers and thousands of advertisements that helped DeSantis and his supporters win at the ballot box.

The ads purchased with the diverted money blanketed TV, social media and radio stations in the weeks before the election. They defended Florida’s six-week abortion ban and made exaggerated claims about the dangers of marijuana without mentioning that both were the subject of ballot amendments last fall.

Along the way, the governor’s administration bent state spending laws and obscured millions in government spending, records and interviews show.

The findings shed new light on the DeSantis administration’s marshaling of state resources to finance his fight against political causes supported by a majority of Florida voters. Amendment 3 would have legalized recreational marijuana. Amendment 4 would have overturned the six-week abortion ban pushed by DeSantis. Both fell just short of the 60% needed to pass.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/12/12/desantis-election-2024-amendments-ads-abortion-marijuana-spending/

Maybe Floridians will finally wake up to the rampant corruption in the state government.