Ahead of today’s State Affairs Committee meeting, multiple representatives have proposed a number of amendments to House Bill 9B – the bill detailing how the State of Florida seeks to take over the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The proposals are from Rep. Eskamani and Rep. Harris, and they seek to change the language of the bill to seemingly prevent too much power from falling into the hands of the Florida Governor.

Currently, the bill as proposed puts quite a bit of power into the hands of the Governor by allowing the Governor to pick all five Board of Directors. One of the amendments seeks to expand the proposed Board from five Governor-appointed members to seven members. Here’s how the members would be picked should the proposal pass:

• Three members appointed by the Cabinet, confirmed by Senate
• One seat for the Mayor of Orange County
• One seat for the chair of the Osceola Board of Country Commissioners
• One seat for the mayor of Orlando
• One seat for the mayor of Kissimmee

Other amendments seek to limit who can be appointed to the Board of Directors by introducing the following restrictions:

• No person who has previously contributed to a political committee affiliated with the Governor
• No person who has made a campaign contribution for the reelection of the Governor
• District administrator may not have held elected office during the 10 years immediately preceding their appointment
• No person in the general council may have been an elevated official in the past 10 years or made policitcal contribution to the Governor

Additional amendments seek to limit how the Governor may benefit from the proposed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District:

The Governor, on his or her own behalf or on behalf of any other person, may not accept anything of value, including, but not limited to, campaign contributions or transportation free of charge on privately owned aircraft, from a vendor, contractor, company, or other person financially affiliated with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Finally, an amendment was filed that aims to rename the proposed “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District” to “Florida’s Attempt to Silence Critical and Independent Speech and Thought”.

None of the amendments have been voted on, but a State Affairs Committee meeting is scheduled for 2pm today.

As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!