After Republicans walked out on a late-November vote for a local bill to repeal Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Orange County State Legislative Delegation met again this morning to take another stab at a vote.
Florida Senator Linda Stewart introduced a local bill back in November that would completely undo the state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The proposed bill, which you can read below, was not voted on in a November meeting after a quorum couldn’t be established thanks to Republicans walking out of the meeting. However, at a meeting today, the Orange County State Legislative Delegation met again and the bill passed through the local body.
The bill will head to Tallahassee now, where it will face a tough uphill battle. The Republican-controlled legislature is unlikely to vote against a takeover they introduced last year. Sen. Stewart says the local bill will head to the Florida House of Representatives next.
In this morning’s meeting, Sen. Stewart outlined that her purpose in filing the bill is to “go back and start over” after saying that things have fallen apart at the renamed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District following the state takeover. Multiple members of the committee used the word “chaos” when referring to the CFTOD Board of Directors. Sen. Stewart says that short of a complete undoing of the takeover, she hopes that there will be a reorganization of the Board of Supervisors, including adding elected officials from Orange County and the City of Orlando while still allowing DeSantis to have some members on the Board.
Sen. Stewart said that she has raised her concerns with Governor DeSantis, including issues of a lack of transparency surrounding public records out of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The CFTOD is currently being sued by Disney after they have failed to abide by Florida laws as it relates to releasing public records.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson brought up a great point about how the turmoil at the District has led to the departure of talent. More than 30 or 40 employees have left the District since DeSantis took over, with some noting in exit interviews that morale is down at the District.
Republicans in attendance brought up issues about the bill not following proper protocol, and questions of Disney having a “mini Vatican” under the old Reedy Creek structure.
Of course, during all of this, Disney has raised a lawsuit and a countersuit that could undo the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District anyway should a judge rule in its favor. The lawsuits are currently in pre-trail statuses, with more court dates scheduled for later this Spring.
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!