In the wake of the University of Florida President Ben Sasse’s financial scandal, UF needs stronger protocols in place for awarding consultant contracts, hiring employees and spending money on food and drinks for school events, according to some of the findings in a new Florida Auditor General’s preliminary audit report.

The Florida Auditor General’s office detailed how Sasse’s office spent millions of dollars on consultants, employees who worked remotely from out of state and lavish parties.

The final audit report is expected to be completed in the next several weeks, auditor manager Jaime Hoelscher said.

UF spokesman Steve Orlando said the school had no comment Tuesday.

Sasse resigned last year from his post because of his wife’s health.

Weeks later, he was under fire and facing accusations of wasting school funds based on reporting from the Independent Florida Alligator college newspaper, which broke the story.

Sasse’s office spent $14.8 million in the 2023-24 school year — a 72% spike from the previous year, the preliminary audit report said.

Sasse’s office spent $6.4 million on a consultant firm, but the audit report said, “University records did not demonstrate the benefit the University received for the consultant services.”

The president’s office spent $563,825 on catering for eight events. The preliminary audit said the prices were not competitive.

“As such, the reasonableness of the costs was not always apparent,” the report said describing a two-hour holiday buffet for 594 people that cost $169,755; a one-hour-holiday lighting party with hot chocolate, cider, peppermint chocolates, and cookies that cost $62,650 for 2,000 guests; and Sasse’s tailgating party for 478 people with a $46,449 tag.

Meanwhile, Sasse’ office hired 24 people from Feb. 6, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

“The contracted annual salaries ranged from $75,000 to $687,000 and averaged $249,931. Our examination of University records and discussions with University personnel disclosed that University employment practices could be improved,” the preliminary audit report said, noting 14 of those positions didn’t have job descriptions.

Many of the positions were paid above market value and the university did not conduct a competitive recruitment hiring process either.

“According to University personnel, the President and 1 other member of University management exercised discretion in establishing the salaries for the 19 individuals,” the preliminary audit report said. “However, although we requested, University records were not provided to identify the basis for those salaries.”

The audit raised other concerns about compensation.

One employee was given a $115,000 relocation bonus and then quit eight months later, while a second employee was paid a $129,000 bonus and then resigned within18 months.

“Given the brief employment periods of the two employees, we asked University personnel whether repayment of those amounts was requested and were informed that University contracts for these employees were not structured to require repayment,” the preliminary audit report said.

The president’s office also paid $100,000 for an employee’s house purchase.

“To qualify for loan forgiveness, the employee must remain employed full-time at the University during the 5-year period. Considering this employee also received an $80,000 recruitment bonus and $25,000 for relocation assistance paid from another University Department, the reasonableness of the $100,000 payment was unclear,” the preliminary audit report said.

And not everyone working for Sasse actually lived in Gainesville, or even Florida.

Thirteen UF employees worked remotely while living in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., the report said.

And the preliminary audit report took aim at Sasse’s own pay.

After he resigned, he kept his $1 million annual base salary as president emeritus through February 2028.

“In response to our inquiry in December 2024, University personnel indicated that he did not teach a class in the Fall 2024 but was preparing materials for a course that he and another employee would co-teach in Spring 2025. University personnel further informed us that he was also working closely with the Chair in his role as an external advisor, which included responsibilities such as fundraising, speeches, and recruitment,” the report said. “Absent records to support the basis for the Advisor salary at the same rate of his prior compensation as a University President, the public purpose of such a salary is not readily apparent.”

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A new “farm bill” championed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson takes aim at trippy fungi, plant-based milk and fake meat fashioned from plant products.

The 2025 Florida Farm Bill, which is being carried by Sen. Keith Truenow and Rep. Kaylee Tuck, includes measures intended as ways to “increase consumer protection and transparency.”

One of those planks would put the kibosh on certain elevated experiences, by “closing the loophole allowing the sale of psychedelic mushrooms.”

Some mushrooms apparently are commercially available. Jacksonville’s Folio Weekly noted that while psilocybin is federally banned as of 1970, the Siberian-sourced amanita muscaria has been available in recent years.

The farm bill would also ban “the mislabeling of plant-based products as ‘milk’ or ‘meat.’ This presumably would cause those who manufacture vegetable and mushroom based burgers to change their parlance, as well as those who market coconut, almond, soy and other plant-based milks.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, no particular ally of Simpson especially given the ongoing debate about whether the Governor’s Office or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will helm the illegal immigration fight in the state, stood opposed to the “lab grown … fake meat” movement last year, signing a ban on cultivated proteins the agriculture department sought.

Simpson told a House committee Tuesday the “fake meat” ban protected farmers.

The farm bill covers a lot of other ground also, including providing local control over farm-based solar farms, banning banks from discriminating against farmers and ranchers based on environmental policy, updating the concealed weapon permit process, making stealing checks from mailboxes a felony offense, and requiring schools to provide 4H and Future Farmers of America facilities.

The Commissioner contextualized the bill.

“This legislation is a strong step forward to defend Florida’s agricultural industry and the hardworking farmers, ranchers, and growers who fuel our economy. By standing up to overreach and ensuring our agricultural community thrives, we are preserving our state’s heritage and safeguarding its future. Florida’s agriculture industry deserves the best, and through Senator Truenow and Representative Tuck’s efforts we are delivering on that promise,” Simpson said.

Lawmakers offered their own takes.

Truenow said the bill was “about standing up for common-sense policies that protect our agricultural lands, support local businesses, and ensure Florida remains a leader in agriculture.”

And Tuck said “safeguarding our farmers and ranchers from discriminatory lending practices and bolstering consumer protections” is “ensuring a brighter, more secure future for Florida agriculture.”

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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz wants America’s official line on a nuclear-powered Iran to be unequivocal.

“All options” should be on the table to counter that threat, the Parkland Democrat said. He’s now put that dictate into legislation with Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler.

“Allowing Iran to maintain and build a nuclear program is an existential threat to the United States, and global stability. As the Iranian regime continues its dangerous attempts at nuclear expansion, leaders have to call this out for what it is: an unacceptable escalation in the Middle East and a national security threat against the United States and our allies,” said Moskowitz, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Intelligence.

“(The) United States won’t stand for anything less and will consider all options to protect our national security. We must send a clear, bipartisan message that we stand with our ally Israel and that a continued nuclear program in Iran is an absolute nonstarter.”

Moskowitz and Lawler filed a resolution Tuesday to complement legislation a bipartisan trio of Senators — Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman and Republicans Katie Britt of Alabama and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — introduced Friday.

The legislation:

— Affirms that Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons capability is a credible threat to the U.S. and an existential threat to Israel and other allies and partners in the Middle East.

— Asserts that “all options should be considered” in addressing the nuclear threat Iran poses.

— Demands that Iran “immediately cease engaging in any and all activity” that threatens the national security of the U.S., Israel and its allies, including enriching uranium, developing or possessing vehicles capable of carrying nukes, and developing or possessing a nuclear warhead.

Of note, the legislation makes clear that it does not do anything to authorize U.S. military force.

The twin House and Senate measures include an outline of Iran’s history of aggression toward the U.S. and its allies, its financial backing of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups and efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

The bills also note Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s support of the nation’s “Death to America” stance and assertion that Israel is a “cancerous growth” in need of destruction.

In December, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published an assessment of Iran’s nuclear activity, concluding that the country’s enriched uranium stockpiles “are far greater than needed” for non-weapon uses. If Iran further enriched its uranium stockpile, the assessment said, it could “produce more than a dozen nuclear weapons.”

Later that month, France, Germany and the United Kingdom released a joint statement condemning “Iran’s latest steps” to expand its production of enriched uranium and “strongly” urging the nation to “immediately halt its nuclear escalation.”

Graham appeared Sunday on Fox News to discuss the Senate resolution. He said he approached Fetterman, whom he described as a “champion for the state of Israel,” to partner on the legislation.

“What this resolution does (is) it lays out the case against Iran’s nuclear ambition. (Israel Prime Minister) Bibi Netanyahu and the Israelis are going to have to make a decision relatively soon (on) what to do about the Iran nuclear program,” he said. “This is not an authorization to use force, but … America should support an effort by Israel if they decide to decimate the Iranian program. I think it’s a threat to mankind … and there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades.”

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