MEDIA ARTICLE: In Ron DeSantis’ power grab, the Legislature helped | Column (Tampa Bay Times, 2-18-26)

 Tampa Bay Times

John Hill, Columnist

2-18-26

In Ron DeSantis’ power grab, the Legislature helped | Column

Only gentle pushback now for the termed-out governor.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers his State of the State address as House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, applauds on the opening day of the legislative session Jan. 13 in Tallahassee.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers his State of the State address as House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, applauds on the opening day of the legislative session Jan. 13 in Tallahassee. [ MATIAS J. OCNER | Miami Herald ]

Three stories last week captured the graft, deceit and ugliness of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tenure. The first detailed the governor’s lavish spending from a taxpayer-provided slush fund. The second revealed how his administration spent public money fighting the recreational marijuana campaign (which most Florida voters supported). A third showed how the governor’s health department schemed to cut off life-saving access to affordable drugs for thousands of Floridians. It was a big run of dispiriting news, but par for the course.

In a healthy democracy, where checks and balances keep the co-equal branches of government in line, any of these revelations would certainly have prompted backlash from the Legislature. Lawmakers would have dug in on their power over the purse, on holding the governor’s appointees accountable and on being kept in the loop on major policy decisions. But DeSantis has gone off alone with the Legislature’s blessing, reshaping the power dynamics in Florida for the worse.

Take DeSantis’ abuse of the state’s emergency fund. Under the guise of an immigration “emergency,” DeSantis has spent hundreds of millions of dollars from Florida’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund since the Republican-led Legislature first established the account in 2022, according to last week’s report by the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau.

The spending included more than $166,000 on restaurant bills and catering, $717,000 on travel and at least $1.7 million on outside attorneys. Thousands of dollars flowed to Amazon, Sam’s Club and dozens of restaurants, from Outback Steakhouse and Kyoto Japanese Cuisine to Pedro’s Tacos, Bumpa’s Sports Bar and Bagel Bagel. DeSantis’ office has used the emergency to cover the tab at restaurants more than 50 times this year alone. This from a fund typically reserved for hurricanes and other disasters, when access to quick cash actually serves a purpose.

DeSantis’ administration also acknowledged for the first time last week that it used opioid settlement money to campaign against a recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot, which the governor opposed.

Shevaun Harris, who led Florida’s child welfare agency at the time, made the admission during an appearance before a Senate committee as part of her confirmation as secretary for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. The department paid a Republican-aligned digital firm $5.1 million in a no-bid contract for ads about marijuana and abortions; $4 million of it came from the state’s opioid settlement, money intended to steer Floridians away from drug dependency.

The administration hasn’t responded to questions from the Times/Herald about the use of the opioid money for years, and the Orlando Sentinel reported this month that the state hadn’t answered questions about the campaign spending from its own opioid advisory council. But dodging the press and subverting the state’s own internal channels of communication is nothing new for this administration. Take its approach in cutting off affordable access for Floridians to life-saving AIDS drugs.

The Times/Herald reported last week that Florida planned to kick patients in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program off their state-paid health insurance. The decision leaves up to 12,000 needy people scrambling to find ways to afford medication. No other state has made cuts at Florida’s level to deal with rising health care costs, and longtime advocates and health experts say the state has gone far beyond what’s necessary. It’s also impossible to ignore than many affected are members of the LGBTQ+ community, a population that DeSantis has regularly targeted.

As the administration readied changes, it operated in secret. The Florida Department of Health’s own HIV planning board stopped getting updates about the drug assistance program about a year ago. Changes were initially communicated to health clinics by phone, not in writing. Officials operated out of sight despite the requirement to follow an open rule-changing process. And patients were given short notice, forced to scramble to find coverage elsewhere.

The House is finally pushing back on the governor’s slush fund, but lawmakers are finding a backbone only as the termed-out governor prepares to depart. The Senate still follows the governor’s lead. DeSantis’ record is his legacy, and there is plenty for history to criticize. But we should remember the role our own pliant, independently elected representatives played. If that’s how our system works, no wonder the bad news flows.

John Hill - Columnist

John Hill is a columnist for the Tampa Bay Times. Reach him at hill@tampabay.com.

Join the Conversation

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Community Guidelines.

https://www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2026/02/18/ron-desantis-power-grab-legislature-helped-column/?trk_msg=3FPSULBL15D4D3G64E92TEREHO&trk_contact=FEUGMM9L1IUD13T890TMN8V3TG&trk_sid=RUFUUSRKJEEG24UEAA9F49OHUG&trk_link=M1PHG3VSPDCKH84NON3LFF6MM0&utm_email=f0075cfb4c7bb435f4382a4aabc76517743da7f8b8507e67660310f2147780f4&trk_source=Dont-Miss&utm_source=Breaking+News&utm_medium=MG2_Newsletter&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.tampabay.com%2fviewpoints%2f2026%2f02%2f18%2fron-desantis-power-grab-legislature-helped-column%2f&utm_campaign=subscribecta