Senator Stewart aims to terminate DeSantis' CFTOD and revive original Disney Reedy Creek Improvement District

Nov 28, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Posted: Tuesday November 28, 2023 4:27am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Linda Stewart, a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, is preparing to file a bill to terminate the Ron DeSantis-created Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Stewart, representing the 13th district, which includes northeast and central Orange County, wants to terminate the terms of office of the CFTOD Board of Supervisors and reconstitute the Reedy Creek Improvement District as it existed as of February 26, 2023.

Senator Linda Stewart's bill would terminate DeSantis' CFTOD and reinstate the Reedy Creek Improvement District

The bill is unlikely to progress, given that the Republican Party controls both the Florida Senate and the Florida House.

Here is the text of the bill via WKMG's Landon McReynolds.

An act relating to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, Orange and Osceola Counties; repealing chapter 2023-5, Laws of Florida, which established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District; reviving, reenacting, and readopting chapter 67-764, Laws of Florida, and the decree in chancery No. 66-1061 entered by the Circuit Court in and for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida on May 13, 1966, relating to the Reedy Creek Improvement District; reconstituting the Reedy Creek Improvement District as it existed as of February 26, 2023; terminating the terms of office of the Board of Supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District; providing transitional provisions; providing for construction; providing an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Chapter 2023-5, Laws of Florida, is repealed.

Section 2. Notwithstanding chapter 2023-5, Laws of Florida, chapter 67-764, Laws of Florida, and the decree in chancery No. 66-1061 entered by the Circuit Court in and for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida on May 13, 1966, creating and incorporating the Reedy Creek Drainage District as a public corporation of the State of Florida, are revived, reenacted, and readopted. The terms of the charter for the Reedy Creek Improvement District shall be as it existed on February 26, 2023.

Section 3. The offices and terms of all members of the Board of Supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District existing as of the effective date of this act shall end as of the effective date of this act, but such members may continue to serve until a successor in office is appointed and qualified. Until successors are appointed and qualified to replace all of the members of the board of supervisors existing as of the effective date of this act, board members, officers, and employees of the district may not sell, dispose of, encumber, transfer, or expend the assets of the district as such assets existed on the effective date of this act, other than in the ordinary course of business

Section 4. This act may not be construed to affect or otherwise impair any existing contract that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District entered into, or any bond or other instrument of indebtedness issued by the district, from February 27, 2023, through the effective date of this act.

Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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mkt18 days ago

The free speech claim was federal, the land use claim was state.

mikejs7819 days ago

The federal case was not predicated on FL free speech law, it was based around 1st amendment jurisprudence and the US Constitution contract clause. The state case was based around state law but not speech state law.

Bullseye196719 days ago

I am not sure of the actual filing and I will admit that I am too lazy to look through all the filings you posted, Thank you, but I think it was a claim on FL law and not Federal. The Sol on "free speech" in FL is 3 years, but it is not limited in USC, And if this is right, it was what I quoted above. The clock is ticking. A federal court can not take action on a state law case if SoL has expired.

JoeCamel20 days ago

Saved them a bunch of cash

Chi8420 days ago

The State was happy with the way things were. For many, many years.

mikejs7820 days ago

My gut says that beginning in 2027 there will be legislation that slowly picks away at CFTOD and gradually returns control to Disney. It won't happen all at once - but I bet it will happen.

Chi8420 days ago

There's a battle being lost, but it's not really a PR battle and it only tangentially involves Disney.

mkt20 days ago

You’re right that there wasn’t a massive public rally to defend Disney. At least not in the way we often see with political figures or causes. But that doesn’t mean they lost the PR battle. It just means they played it differently. They didn’t need cheering crowds. They let the state’s actions speak for themselves. The Lake Nona cancellation - whether intentional or not - ended up being the loudest statement. Thousands of high-paying jobs. Gone. Local business groups noticed. Real estate noticed. Economists noticed. That stuck. Meanwhile, the “win” Florida claimed was largely symbolic - swapping one board for another - while Disney kept building, kept expanding, and retained the infrastructure and bond authority they needed. The machine never stopped. And let’s not forget: the only only people visibly waving flags on the property line during this entire episode? They were on the state’s side, and those flags bore symbols we all agree have no place in a civilized society. So no - Disney didn’t lose the PR war. They just didn’t fight it with soundbites. They let time and economic impact do the talking.

flynnibus20 days ago

Who came to defend Disney? Who lined up to call out DeSantis' action? Who lined up to point out the cabel action in the Legislature? Who used Disney as an example of what can happen? I'm not talking about who wrote stories to cover the news.. I'm talking about who put their name on the line to call out the injustice that was happening? How many people did you hear regurgitating the false propoganda about taxes? How many people did you hear thinking this RCID thing was some long running scam that was time to go? I'm talking about who the gen pop saw as in the wrong... most did not flock to defend Disney... they saw it as some corporate scam that finally was being taken down.. Disney was pretty much the target of the most direct, blatant, outright cheered political driven retribution I can think of in any recent memory... and the gen pop thinks DeSantis was eliminating corporate benefits and DEI non-sense. That's the PR battle Disney lost.

Prince-120 days ago

Oh Ronnie didn't need Disney's help to accomplish that. He was never going to be president.

MR.Dis20 days ago

Disney won in one respect, this incident totally destroyed a certain Govenors hope of ever being seen as Presidential material.

mkt20 days ago

That’s a fair framing if you’re evaluating from a strictly structural standpoint Yes, Disney no longer controls the board, and yes, they negotiated toward a new normal rather than scorched-earth resistance. But to say they “lost the PR battle”? I strongly disagree. Florida came off as punitive, erratic, and willing to jeopardize thousands of high-paying jobs over a political tantrum. The Lake Nona cancellation - whether coincidental or not - felt like fallout, and perception did the heavy lifting. That loss is now linked to the state’s actions. No press release needed. Florida is viewed as having cost the region several thousand high earners, along with their housing demand, business growth, and tax revenue. That’s not just bad optics. That’s third-world-level policy sabotage. Meanwhile, Disney kept building. The board that was supposed to rein them in greenlit a $17B expansion. Bond authority stayed. Infrastructure control stayed. Functionally, nothing stopped. Sure, the expansion brings jobs. But they're mostly tourism and hospitality roles. These aren't six-figure white collar transfers — they're hourly park positions. Florida traded a long-term white-collar boom for a short-term PR win and a few more popcorn carts. That’s not a victory. That’s a downgrade. If anything, Disney let Florida win the headline, then quietly walked away with the outcome. That’s not “dealing with the devil.” That’s knowing when to let the devil shake his fist at a cloud while you pour the foundation for your next park expansion.

LAKid5320 days ago

Precisely

UNCgolf20 days ago

Indeed. And while I wish Disney had fought to the end, that was never likely. Publicly traded corporations just don't really operate that way. For example, I've represented corporate clients who had a good chance of prevailing against the government in regulatory investigations, but they would have spent more on the fight than they spent on the settlement -- so they settled. There's always going to be a cost/benefit analysis (which often involves more than just the potential legal fees) regardless of whether they think they're right. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons Harvard is more likely to fight to the end in their current litigation (although that's certainly not guaranteed). They don't have to worry about shareholders, although they do have some other outside concerns.