On November 29th, 2023, a Republican-led walkout during an Orange County legislative delegation meeting “derail[ed] consideration of a Democratic effort to repeal Gov. Ron DeSantis’ takeover of Disney World’s special district” per the Orlando Sentinel. A little over a month later, the meeting was rescheduled, and we have an important update.
First, for context, the political conflict between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis started when the Reedy Creek Improvement District was revised to become the DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in February 2023. In response, the new Board sued Disney, Disney countersued the Board, and now, the future of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District remains up in the air. Towards the end of 2023, new efforts were made to try and restore the old Reedy Creek Improvement District, and we now have a development to report.
On Friday, January 5th, 2024, Florida state legislators voted to move forward with a bill that would reverse Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to strip Disney of its special Reedy Creek district, according to Deadline.
Democratic Senator Linda Stewart said that the bill “begins the conversation” to reverse DeSantis’ changes. She also asserted that the transformation of the Reedy Creek board “was rushed,” according to Deadline. Stewart argued that the departure of more than 3 dozen district employees and inexperienced board members are causing things to fall apart within the district.
The vote passed — a majority of the Orange County delegation consisted of Democrats. That said, some Orange County lawmakers voted against the bill, stating that they believe it will not get anywhere in the legislature.
Deadline noted that “the bill has long odds in getting very far in the Republican-controlled Florida legislature,” and a federal judge is expected to rule on Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis and his hand-picked board soon as well.
We will continue to share updates on this ongoing situation. Stay tuned for more Disney news.
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I hope this bill gets passed. Reedy Creek is a far better manager of the Disney area than its poorly-planned and run alternative.
I agree, this was a political move for DeSantis when he thought he had a chance of being president now that it seems he won’t win the nomination hopefully he will sit down & let the people that know what they are doing run things.