The chairman of a foundation tied to Hope Florida — First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature welfare-assistance program — said under oath Tuesday that “mistakes were made” with the foundation’s record-keeping, as a skirmish over the group’s finances continued to escalate. Joshua Hay, chairman of the Hope Florida Foundation Inc., 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 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 state attorney general. Keep Florida Clean fought a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would have allowed 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. “In recent weeks, the public reporting has made evident that mistakes were made. There are lapses in reporting procedures. The foundation was not provided with the staffing support necessary to ensure all matters were being quickly and appropriately handled,” Hay, who was accompanied by an attorney, told the House panel. He said his organization is having a board meeting Thursday to address its governance structure and other issues — including missing federal tax reports, known as 990s — highlighted in the House’s inquiry.