Alex Andrade urges continued oversight as he holds final Subcommittee hearing

Rep. Alex Andrade’s final Subcommittee hearing was missing any political fireworks.

No protestors showed up with any signs during the public meeting. The Committee approved the lone bill on the agenda with a quick debate.

But before the 10-minute hearing ended, Andrade got emotional for a moment as he reflected on the Health Care Budget Subcommittee’s work over the past two years — the most high-profile being its investigation into Hope Florida last Session.

Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office had been attempting to recruit anti-abortion groups to protest Andrade, the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reported earlier Monday.

“He has no moral compass,” Andrade told the media outlets.

“Accountability starts with us,” Andrade added, though he did not bring up Hope Florida by name.

He said lawmakers who discover a “failure outside the Legislature” need to “instruct the executive.”

“That’s our responsibility — instruct them to do what we tell them to do and then to make sure that they follow through with it,” Andrade said. “That’s true with the language that we pass in bills and in the budget and with the dollars that we appropriate.”

The term-limited Pensacola Republican fought back tears as he told his Subcommittee members, “Hopefully you guys can continue to build on that. … I’m excited to see what everyone here achieves.”

The Hope Florida scandal began after the state funneled $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the charity that’s a pet project of First Lady Casey DeSantis. The money ended up being funneled to a political committee to fight and defeat 2024’s Marijuana Legalization ballot initiative.

Uthmeier, the former Chief of Staff for Gov. Ron DeSantis, had been in charge of the political committee that received the Medicaid funds. Andrade had openly accused Uthmeier of wrongdoing. Uthmeier, who was later appointed as AG by DeSantis, denied it.

At the same time as Andrade’s Subcommittee meeting, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris was being grilled over Hope Florida during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.