Ethics complaint must be refiled

Senate president, House speaker must review charge against Moms for Liberty co-founder

TALLAHASSEE — A political consultant and blogger will have to refile his ethics complaint against Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich, according to a letter he got from the Commission on Ethics this week.

The commission’s executive director returned Robert Burns III’s paperwork and explained that the Senate president and House speaker must review complaints about its members according to Florida law, which instructs them to appoint a joint committee to handle the matter.

Burns, who lives in Melbourne, said he feels like he’s entering uncharted territory because he could find no previous ethics commissioner being the subject of an ethics complaint and no instructions for how to file an ethics complaint with the Legislature.

“There’s nothing on any of their websites with instructions, forms, anything,” he said in an email to the Orlando Sentinel. “In my research so far, I can’t even find that a complaint has ever been filed on a sitting commissioner before.”

While he’s at it, Burns said, he also plans to file complaints against fellow Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, a former Indian River County School Board member, and Marie Rogerson, a Moms for Liberty executive board member who ran the campaign of State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach.

Descovich has been serving on the commission since she was nominated by Gov. Ron DeSantis in September. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee had recommended her approval during the session ending March 8, but her name was withdrawn after Burns filed that ethics complaint Feb. 28 saying that she was a paid lobbyist with Moms for Liberty.

Moms for Liberty is a national conservative “parents’ rights” group that began in Brevard County. Its founders have lobbied for bills making it easier to remove books from schools and ban instruction about sexuality and gender identity from classrooms.

Burns said her appointment raises “unavoidable concerns of conflict of interest, given the nature of her organization’s activities within the political landscape of Florida.”

Federal tax returns show that Descovich is paid $50,000 a year as executive director to represent “the organization in its efforts to influence educational policies through legislative means.”

It’s the second time an ethics commission appointee of DeSantis ran into problems. Glen Gilzean was forced to step down from the Commission on Ethics after accepting a $400,000 a year job managing the quasi-governmental control board for Disney World. Descovich was appointed to fill out the remainder of Gilzean’s term, which ends next June.

Gov. DeSantis plans to reappoint Descovich as soon as she is eligible again, Bryan Griffin, communications director for DeSantis, said in an email.

The Senate will have a second chance to confirm Descovich next session. She will continue to serve on the commission in the meantime.