It’s the feud that just won’t go away.
There is a proposal by some Democratic
lawmakers in Orange County, Florida, to return the special tax district to the
Walt Disney World Resort that was stripped
last year
by Governor Ron DeSantis.
It was called the Reedy
Creek Improvement District for decades and allowed Disney to have its own fire
department and set its own bond rate, among other things, until Disney publicly
challenged the governor over one of his proposals.
Gov. DeSantis changed the
name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and installed his own
board members.
Now, some lawmakers want to
revert the decision-making back to Disney, but it is considered a long-shot
proposal.
"This bill is to
go back, repeal what is there and start over," Sen. Linda
Stewart, D-Orlando, said. "Start over with a true discussion about
what this organization could do that would be helpful. Not something that would
tear it apart. And right now, they (the current board members) are looking at
everything possible to tear it apart."
Rep. Doug Bankson, R-Apopka,
said the proposed bill amounted to a repeal of the governor’s decision last
year and not a fix.
"I'm not
opposed to looking at something and finding better ways to do things where
there's holes," Bankson said. "But to go backwards and repeal this, I
think it's the wrong move."
This has been an ongoing
feud, as state and federal lawsuits are still to be heard. At one point, Disney
World even unearthed an old contract that said the special district could only
be disbanded at the end of the English monarchy.
With the coronation of King
Charles in May of 2023, it obviously still exists.
Rep. Carolina
Amesty, R-Windermere, questioned if the bill will be heard in the
Republican-controlled Florida Legislature.
"I don't know how
effective this policy that's coming before this county delegation is actually
going to be for the residents of Orange County," Amesty said. "When
we talk about policy, we can't look at doing just political theater. We need to
talk about actual policies that will make an impact and improve the lives of
the residents that we represent."
The governor's original
decision was to dissolve the Disney World Special District, but instead, he
renamed it and installed his own board members.
At one point, Disney CEO Bob
Iger promised to quell
the feud.
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