Florida legislators in the Florida Senate moved forward with a bill that would return the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) to its previous iteration, the Reedy Creek Improvement District. This effort to repeal the legislation that dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replaced it with the CFTOD, which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis controlled through his ability to nominate board members. Since the transition to the new system, there have been multiple reports of disfunction within the district.
“There are just things out there that are falling apart. And this should not be how we treat our Disney people,” said Democratic state Senator Linda Stewart.
Senator Stewart shared how chaotic things in the district have been since Governor DeSantis took over. “It’s not working. And we’ve been here for 10 months,” Stewart said. “It’s tearing Disney apart. It’s tearing our community apart. It’s tearing our collection of funds apart.”
In an attempt to fix this, the Orange County Legislative Delegation, which is mostly filled with Democrats, passed a bill on Friday to undo the changes that Governor DeSantis and his supporters made in the district. This is just the first step of many for this bill to become an actual law. At this point, there is little chance of that actually happening. However, Senator Stewart and other legislators are making a case for change back to the old system.
“I think that this is the worst thing that anybody could have done,” Senator Stewart said about the replacement of Reedy Creek with CFTOD. “Totally destroy the business plan for Disney. And we don’t really know at the time how impactful that was going to be.”
The goal of this bill is to return thins in the district to where they were before any chances were made. This would give Florida the chance to reorganize the Reedy Creek Improvement District in a different way. The three Republicans in the Orange County Legislative Delegation have a different view on the matter.
“I don’t think this bill is in proper order,” said Republican state Senator Dennis Baxley. His colleague, Senator Douglas Michael “Doug” Bankson concurred. “To go backwards, I don’t think is the right, to repeal I don’t think is the right move,” Bankson said. The Republican senators also voiced concern that there is now sponsor currently in the House for this bill. The conclusion they have is that the proposal is a long shot.
“When we talk about policy, we can’t look at just doing political theater when it comes down to our delegation. We need to talk about actual policies that make an impact and improve the lives of the residents that we represent,” state Representative Carolina Amesty said.
At the end of the day, this bill is a long shot. Currently Florida Republicans hold a super-majority in the Florida State Legislature. They also stand behind the popular Governor. This means that this bill ends up being one more chapter in this controversy that began when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek came out against legislation that Governor DeSantis championed. This led to a feud between the Governor and Disney that started with a war of words and then continued to the dissolving of the Reedy Creek Improvement District followed by the creation of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. This new version of the district was very similar to the previous, but is run by supporters of the Governor. There have been multiple reports that this has led to problems within the district’s government along with many employees leaving.
The resolution of this conflict will most likely not come from this bill. Instead, it will more than likely come from one of two lawsuits that are currently making their way through the courts. One lawsuit is at the state level and the other at the federal. Each of these have Disney and Governor DeSantis fighting for the future of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.
What do you think about this bill that is being brought forward to try and bring back the Reedy Creek Improvement District? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
