The Republican-controlled chamber voted 23-16 to eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which allows Disney to self-govern the area around its Walt Disney World theme park near Orlando.
Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session for redistricting and then asked lawmakers to consider eliminating Disney’s special districts enacted before 1968.
The governor’s move came after Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law after many employees protested his silence on the bill early last month. It already had been approved by the state Legislature.
On Wednesday, lawmakers voted to move forward with S.B. 4C, originally filed by Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley, which would dismantle the Reedy Creek district by June 1, 2023.
Months after Walt Disney’s death in December 1966, the governor and state lawmakers granted Disney, under the direction of Walt Disney’s brother, Roy, establishment of the Reedy Creek Improvement District to govern property that eventually would become Disney World and a city that never was built.
Florida has a total of 1,844 special districts, and the Reedy Creek Improvement District is the largest of the six that Disney controls, spanning 25,000 acres and two counties.
Discover more from News Facts Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
