DOGE this: Ron DeSantis is still hiding his spending on tax-funded campaign ads

A recap of the first week of the Florida Legislature's 2025 session, plus a preview of week two.

Mar 09, 2025

Now that the Florida’s Legislature 2025 session has begun, we’re temporarily turning our weekly Florida in Five feature into a roundup of news, notes and bill movements from session. As a reminder, all of the content we produce here at Seeking Rents is free to all. But please consider a voluntarily paid subscription, if you can afford one. And please subscribe to our YouTube channel, too.

Perhaps the cringiest part of the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session is just how thirsty Republican leaders are for attention from Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

You can see it most obviously in all the ways they keep trying to insert themselves into the public frenzy around “DOGE” — the chaotic and still-not-quite-clear-what-it-actually-is “Department of Government Efficiency” that’s being personally led by Musk (or maybe not, if it’s a judge who wants to know) and that has been ordering mass layoffs and dismantling programs across the federal government, all while lying about the “savings” it claims to be achieving for American taxpayers.

Already, we’ve got Gov. Ron DeSantis vowing “to DOGE local governments.” We’ve seen Republican lawmakers trying to rebrand a bill handed to them by a right-wing think as “a Florida DOGE.” And we’re about to see a proposed ballot measure begin moving forward that would create a new statewide elected office for a Musk-like “commissioner of efficiency.”

But here’s a thought: Maybe before politicians in Tallahassee start pointing fingers at city mayors and county commissioners — and maybe before they invent a whole new bureaucracy in the name of eliminating bureaucracy — they could spend a bit of time cleaning up their own house.

And one place they could start is by finally demanding a full public accounting of all the cash Ron DeSantis burned last fall on tax-funded propaganda meant to turn voters against a pair of citizen-led constitutional amendments that would have ended a statewide abortion ban and legalized marijuana in Florida.

We already know that the DeSantis administration spent taxpayer money on political ads masquerading as “public service announcements.” Seeking Rents has estimated the total spending at nearly $20 million, based on a review of purchase orders and vendor payments that appear connected to advertising campaigns against the abortion and marijuana ballot measures.

We also have good reason to suspect that the governor misappropriated some of this money. Records show, for instance, that one of these advertising contracts was funded with proceeds from a legal settlement with the opioid industry — money that the state of Florida is supposed to spend combatting the opioid addiction crisis.

We’re still trying to get definitive answers here at Seeking Rents. The week after the election, Seeking Rents submitted public-records requests to the five state agencies that sponsored anti-abortion and anti-weed television commercials. The requests seek copies of all records — things like invoices, progress reports, media plans, and creative materials — exchanged between the agencies and marketing vendors that may have helped produce the ad campaigns.

But nearly four months later, the DeSantis administration has yet to turn over a single record in response to those requests. And that’s even though one of the agencies — the Florida Department of Transportation — has already taken a $269.96 payment to cover the costs of production.

The reality is that it’s probably going to take Florida lawmakers to get timely answers from the DeSantis administration. They’ve certainly got plenty of opportunities to ask: This week, for instance, a House appropriations committee is going to have a discussion about the Department of Transportation’s budget.

Lawmakers could also make sure this kind of publicly funded propaganda — which, remember, was directed against a pair of ballot measures that each received well over 50 percent of the vote — never happens again. At least three bills have been filed this session that would prohibit state agencies from advertising against future ballot initiatives: Senate Bill 216, House Bill 727, and Senate Bill 926

But all three bills are sponsored by Democratic lawmakers. And the Republicans who rule Tallahassee have so far refused to allow a vote on any of them.

Billtrack

In honor of the best show on TV, here’s a look at some of the bills on the move from the first week of session:

House Bill 69: Allows Donald Trump to build a presidential library in Florida without any oversight from the city or county in which it is built. Passed the House Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee by a 13-2 vote. (See votes)
House Bill 289 and Senate Bill 628: Expands the crime of “vessel homicide” to include a boating accident that results in the loss of a fetus. HB 289 passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee by an 18-0 vote, while SB 628 passed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee by an 8-0 vote. (House vote, Senate vote)
House Bill 585: Makes it more difficult to sue the Mosaic Co. or any other mining company over pollution or personal injury claims arising from radiation exposure on reclaimed phosphate mines. Passed the House Natural Resources & Disaster Subcommittee by a 16-2 vote. (See votes)
House Bill 1205: Imposes sweeping new restrictions and regulatory barriers on citizen-led groups colleting petition in support of proposed ballot initiatives. Passed the House Government Operations Subcommittee by a 14-4 vote. (See votes)
Senate Bill 7002: Gives the Florida Legislature more control over Everglades restoration. Passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee by an 11-0 vote. (See votes)

Looking ahead

Here are a few of the more interesting bills that have been noticed for hearings next week:

Monday

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee will hear Senate Bill 7016, another bill meant to make it far harder for citizen-led groups to amend the state constitution via petition drive. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm. (Contact committee members)
The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee will hear Senate Bill 676, which would explicitly authorize companies to pay less than minimum wage to apprentices, interns, and other employees in “work-based learning” arrangements. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm. (Contact committee members)

Tuesday

The House Natural Resources & Disasters Subcommittee will meet to hear House Bill 565, which would strip local communities of any power to regulate single-use food containers like plastic cups, bottles and bags. The meeting begins at 10:15 am. (Contact committee members)
The Senate Agriculture Committee will hear Senate Bill 700, which would impose anti-competitive labeling restrictions on plant-based meat and milk products such as Beyond Beef or oat milk. The meeting begins at 4 p.m. (Contact committee members)

Wednesday

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Senate Bill 498, which would allow banks to pay lower interest rates on bank accounts that are used to fund Legal Aid services for Floridians who cannot afford civil attorneys of their own. The meeting begins at 8:30 am. (Contact committee members)
The Senate Judiciary Committee will also hear Senate Bill 806, which would undermine the attorney general of Delaware in a legal dispute with the Alfred I. duPont Charitable Trust over whether the Florida-based charity is shirking its historic obligations to provide care to needy children in Delaware. (Contact committee members)
And the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Senate Bill 832, the Senate version of the bill that would make it more difficult to sue phosphate mining giant Mosaic Co. over radioactive contamination left behind on previously mined land. (Contact committee members)

Note: The House notices committee meetings two days ahead of time, while the Senate notices them three days in advance. Click here to find the complete daily calendars in the Florida House of Representatives, and click here for the daily calendars for the Florida Senate.