Why it’s more important than ever for me to introduce the ‘New Hope for Florida Act’

*New light is being shed on the Hope Florida scandal. (AI for S4F/ChatGPT)*

Aug. 28, 2026 by David Silverberg, Democratic candidate for Florida Senate District 28

This past Wednesday, Aug. 26, CBS News in Miami released the long-hidden grand jury report on the Hope Florida scandal.

Now everyone can see what Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier and Sen. Ashley Moody were hiding for months: a record of lying, evasions, and most of all, misappropriation of funds.

Ultimately, while the grand jury stated that it could not level a criminal charge because it could not find the one individual responsible, “we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again.”

It also recommended legislative remedies:

“1. The Florida Legislature should enact a law to prevent this situation from occurring. For example, a law that says any monies received by the state from any source must be deposited into General Revenue, and there should be real consequences for anyone violating this law.

“2. The Florida Legislature should enact clear laws setting requirements for how DSOs (Direct Support Organizations or non-profit charities) can use taxpayer funds, ensuring usage of said funds are tracked and monitored, and providing consequences for violation of these mandates.”

These are exactly the measures that I stated I intend to introduce when you elect me to the Florida Senate (Why I will introduce the ‘New Hope for Florida Act’).

They were also the reforms introduced by Florida House Rep. Alex Andrade (R-2-Pensacola). I’m determined to re-introduce them and then see them signed into law.

Andrade was the legislator who first uncovered the misappropriation of funds and he had some choice insights to share with the grand jury when he was interviewed.

As the grand jury report states:

“Based on his review of the issues, Rep. Andrade is convinced that James Uthmeier and others engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the public of the 10 million dollars that went to Hope Florida. Rep. Andrade understands Hope Florida as a philosophy or concept which reassigns existing State employees as ‘Hope Navigators’ to act as unlicensed social workers utilizing a care portal to connect citizens with resources that can meet their needs with the goal of getting these citizens off public assistance. Rep. Andrade’s conclusion is that the Governor was desperate to win the fight against the amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Florida as private donors had contributed large donations to that cause and he wanted to prove to them that their money was well spent not only because the cause was important to the Governor, but also because he wants to be able to go back to those donors for other causes in the future. Rep. Andrade believes that James Uthmeier identified Hope Florida as a patsy organization that could be used to funnel money into his political action committee to help win the fight against Amendment 3 to support the political goals of himself and his boss.”

Of course there will be no criminal prosecutions during this governorship since Attorney General James Uthmeier is the state’s chief law enforcement officer and was one of the principals in misappropriating the funds.

This highlights the critical need to elect a new Attorney General with integrity and commitment to the law—and Jose Javier Rodriguez, the Democrat running for the position, is that person.

It is time to clean up the rot and corruption that is clearly pervading Big Tallahassee. Introducing the “New Hope for Florida Act,” will be an important starting point.

To read the entire 19-page grand jury report, click on the button below.

Grand Jury Report

This message is approved by David Silverberg and the David Silverberg4Florida campaign.

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