Governor wants more contracts reviewed after nonprofit probe

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants state agencies to review contracts with additional private agencies after ordering an investigation last week into a nonprofit domestic abuse agency whose CEO had received $7.5 million in compensation over a three-year span.

DeSantis issued an executive order Thursday that requires state agencies to identify private entities they’re forced by law to have a sole-source agreement with, as well as entities that receive more than 50% of their budget from state or federal funds.

The order also calls for a review of their tax forms and the total compensation for executive leadership, which will be investigated by the state’s chief inspector general if it exceeds state and federal law. DeSantis also wants the nonprofit groups to submit to an audit and provide annual reports that include break downs of total compensation.

DeSantis, a Republican, asked the state’s chief inspector general to investigate the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence last week and ordered the head of the state’s child welfare agency to review contracts with the organization, which distributes state and federal money to organizations that help domestic violence victims.

The House also voted to subpoena the group’s board of directors and former president. Republican state Rep. Tom Leek told his colleagues that former coalition CEO and President Tiffany Carr had received about $7.5 million in compensation over the three years before she resigned. He said that included a salary that had ballooned to $750,000 a year and separate compensation for up to 210 days a year of paid time off.

Questions about Carr’s salary were first raised in 2018 by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

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