ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A spokesperson for the governor’s office confirmed to 10 Tampa Bay that Hope Florida Foundation executive director Erik Dellenback is resigning, a day after he faced tough questions during a House subcommittee hearing on how the non-profit is run and coordinates with the governor’s administration.

Tuesday, the board chairman for Hope Florida admitted that “mistakes were made” with the foundation’s record-keeping, as a skirmish over the group’s finances continued to escalate. Joshua Hay appeared before the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee amid a widening probe into the nonprofit’s receipt of $10 million as part of a Medicaid managed-care company’s $67 million settlement with the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

After receiving the money from Centene — the state’s largest Medicaid managed-care provider — last fall, the foundation made $5 million in grants each to Secure Florida’s Future, a nonprofit organization linked to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Save Our Society from Drugs.

The groups received the grants while they were making contributions to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee headed by James Uthmeier, who was then Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff and is now Florida attorney general. Keep Florida Clean fought a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would have allowed the recreational use of marijuana.

Tuesday’s hearing was the latest in which House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, has challenged members of the DeSantis administration about the foundation’s alleged lack of transparency about the $10 million settlement and subsequent grants.

“I’m a little shocked that you are unaware of that, not prepared for that, warned about that,” he said to Dellenback, referring to questioning about Hope Florida’s claimed role as a manager of certain Medicaid services.

Dellenback is no longer head of the embattled non-profit led by first lady Casey DeSantis and set up by her husband’s administration with the goal of getting families off welfare, with a spokesperson adding that Dellenback will soon be the new CEO of Florida Family Voice, which advocates and lobbies for, “pro-life, pro-family values in the public square.”

“Hope Florida, because of the first lady’s vision and leadership, has made a real difference in our communities,” Gov. DeSantis said Wednesday. “And there’s some people that are threatened by that.”

Retired Democratic lawmaker Lars Hafner says the legislature sees chum in the water since the governor’s failed bid for the White House.

“The legislature has now finally started to flex its muscles again,” Hafner says. “The legislature has a bone to pick right now, and they’re going to keep nipping at it for the rest of the session.”

On Wednesday, Hope Florida released several tax and organizational documents, including last year’s IRS form 990, but it only runs until the end of June 2024, months before Hay says those multimillion-dollar grants were made, and before that November election.

Thursday morning, Hope Florida has a board hearing where members will “discuss the state of the organization, its corporate governance, its finances, public records and public meeting laws, all to ensure that the organization is furthering its mission.”