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Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre revealed on Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.Favre made the admission while speaking before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. The Republican-led congressional committee is examining how states are falling short on using welfare to help families in need. Favre has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a welfare program in Mississippi. Favre said the scandal has hurt his name and hurt him financially, as well.”Sadly, I also lost investment in a company I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and Im sure you’ll understand why its too late for me, because Ive recently been diagnosed with Parkinsons,” Favre said. “This is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use.”What causes Parkinson’s disease is unknown, and it is unclear if Favre’s disease is connected to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he experienced thousands of concussions in his two decades in the NFL.House Republicans have said a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal involving Favre and others points to the need for serious reform in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Mississippi has ranked among the poorest states in the U.S. for decades, but only a fraction of its federal welfare money has been going to families. Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to waste tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to Mississippi Auditor Shad White and state and federal prosecutors.Favre is not facing any criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit the state filed in 2022. The suit demands repayment of money that was misspent through TANF.White, a Republican, said in 2020 that Favre had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare with approval from the state Department of Human Services. White said Favre did not show up for the speeches. Although Favre repaid the $1.1 million, he still owes nearly $730,000 in interest, White said.The TANF money was to go toward a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.A nonprofit group called the Mississippi Community Education Center made two payments of welfare money to Favre Enterprises, the athletes business: $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018.Court records show that on Dec. 27, 2017, Favre texted the center’s director, Nancy New: Nancy Santa came today and dropped some money off (two smiling emojis) thank you my goodness thank you.Yes he did, New responded. He felt you had been pretty good this year!New pleaded guilty in April 2022 to charges of misspending welfare money, as did her son Zachary New, who helped run the nonprofit. They await sentencing and have agreed to testify against others.Favre said he didnt know the payments he received came from welfare funds and noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.