DeSantis looking to recoup state funds used for Amendment 3 campaign

FLORIDA
Governor DeSantis looking to recoup state money used on No on 3 campaign

Driving the news: Florida governor Ron DeSantis is seeking to recoup some of the taxpayer money his office spent killing Amendment 3, the failed ballot measure to legalize cannabis in the Sunshine State, last year through the upcoming state budget.

Some background: In the midst of the Amendment 3 campaign last year, DeSantis came under fire for spending $50 million in taxpayer funds to ensure that the legalization measure on the ballot was unsuccessful. 

Read our October 31 newsletter: DeSantis’ War on Weed, for more background. 

Now: Jason Garcia from Seeking Rents, a Florida public policy/politics-focused Substack, has been following this story for some time. He wrote this weekend about DeSantis’ request from the legislature to increase the budget to the Department of Children & Families next year. DC&F was one of the Departments whose funds DeSantis used to fight Amendment 3. 

What were the funds intended for? The DC&F funds DeSantis diverted to fund part of the No on 3 campaign were drawn from a nationwide legal settlement from the opioid industry for “prevention and media campaigns.” 

According to the Tampa Bay Times, “The settlement agreement requires that money should only be used to try to curb the opioid crisis.” In short, DeSantis utilized DC&F funds intended to fight opioid addiction to fight the legalization measure instead. 

What’s next? We know that DeSantis was successful in killing Amendment 3 in November. Now, he’s doing his best to backfill the state agency budgets he used to fight it. 

-JR

“Illicit markets know how to adapt to change and challenge — and so, OCM’s enforcement efforts will continue the bring the heat to unregulated operators. The integrity and opportunity of New York’s legal cannabis market is what’s at stake, and with stakes that high, OCM will continue to be relentless in its investigations, compliance, and enforcement work.”

Felicia A.B. Reid, the Acting Executive Director of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, said as part of the OCM’s 2024 Enforcement Report. 

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