Unearthed audit exposes vulnerable Dem's handling of COVID relief funds: 'Gross oversight'
Tallahassee, Fla. — A newly released state audit has found that more than $1.2 billion in federal COVID‑19 relief money passed through the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) without the required monitoring and oversight.
The 2022 compliance report, which examines Florida’s handling of federal awards, cites a pervasive weakness in the agency’s controls. It states that during the 2020‑2021 fiscal year, FDEM approved roughly $210 million for 39 local governments and, in the following year, distributed about $1 billion to 55 recipients. Combined, the grants total $1.23 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
According to the audit, the agency failed to carry out the standard checks that federal regulations demand. Proper oversight, the report explains, includes reviewing subrecipient financial and performance reports, conducting on‑site evaluations, and following up on audit findings to ensure deficiencies are addressed promptly. The audit explicitly notes that FDEM “did not monitor the activities of any subrecipients,” a condition that is flagged as a control deficiency.
The finding comes as Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who chaired FDEM for most of the 2020‑2021 fiscal year, seeks re‑election in a competitive Florida congressional district. Moskowitz stepped down from the emergency management post at the end of April 2021, citing the need to care for his father, who was battling cancer. He was subsequently reappointed to the Broward County Commission by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Moskowitz’s Republican challenger, Scott Singer, has seized on the audit to question the incumbent’s stewardship of public funds. In a statement, Singer said, “When Jared Moskowitz ran a state agency, federal regulators and state auditors found that there was a gross lack of oversight of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds, a lack of reporting, a lack of review of where the funds were going. And that's unacceptable, especially with public tax dollars. But it's not surprising.”
Singer also invoked a separate episode from 2017, when Moskowitz, then a state legislator, worked as an attorney for AshBritt, a disaster‑cleanup firm. Disclosure records show Moskowitz was paid more than $400,000 by the company while he was negotiating increased compensation for cleanup work with the City of Parkland after Hurricane Irma. The candidate’s remarks painted a picture of a pattern of self‑dealing: “When Jared was a state representative, he went to his own city and demanded that they pay more for hurricane cleanup that went to a disaster recovery company that paid him millions. We can't afford people who are continuing to do the same thing. A gross oversight of funds and self‑dealing.”
Moskowitz’s campaign responded by emphasizing his collaboration with the DeSantis administration and the overall effectiveness of Florida’s pandemic response. “As Director of FDEM, I worked directly for Governor DeSantis and his administration. Florida had one of the best COVID responses in the country,” Moskowitz said. He added that the state’s COVID spending “has passed the FEMA audit for reimbursements,” and noted that he had earned praise from Republican officials, including Singer, for his disaster‑recovery efforts. Communications released by Moskowitz show Singer thanking him for “the amazing work you've done” and acknowledging that “the state was in a much better place because of what you've done.”
Both candidates have cleared their party’s primaries and will face each other in the general election on November 3. The race is being watched closely because it could determine control of a seat that has become increasingly competitive in recent cycles. The audit’s revelations about the handling of billions in federal aid are expected to be a central issue for voters as they decide whether to retain Moskowitz or elect Singer.