Florida Senate passes a bill to dissolve Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District

Posted: Wednesday April 20, 2022 2:54pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Florida Senate voted 23-16 to pass a bill to dissolve Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District as Governor Ron DeSantis continues to seek revenge on Disney for opposing his "Don't Say Gay Bill."

The next step for the bill is to go before a vote in the state House.

If it ultimately passes, the Reedy Creek Improvement District will be dissolved on June 1 2023.

The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 allowed Disney the luxury of establishing its own independent government that handles many aspects of the Walt Disney World property, including emergency services, infrastructure, and construction permitting. It remains unclear how the elimination of Reedy Creek could actually be implemented and how Disney would respond.

In a second vote, the Senate also passed a measure to remove the protection that Disney has regarding tech firm censorship.

These latest moves follow escalating tensions between DeSantis and Disney CEO Bob Chapek regarding Disney's opposition to Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill."

Disney has suspended all political donations in the state of Florida in response to the bill.

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Disstevefan13 minutes ago

"Bob the buyer" has purchased (and over paid) for enough cr@p anyway.

Stripes4 minutes ago

The FTC has lost a lot of lawsuits in recent years. I’ve read some of their complaints and I get second hand embarrassment for the lawyers that drafted them.

flynnibus8 minutes ago

And who do you think is controlling the FTC these days?? Hint.. it's another puppet.

flynnibus8 minutes ago

Not one of those cases has been closed yet - in some cases the courts have issued orders to deal with the temporary halts, but it means nothing when the executive branch ignores them. Thousands will fill lawsuits - but we'll all be much older by the time anything comes of it.. and what till then? This is the reality for all those 'probationary' workers... and all the future suits about appropriated funding, etc. The "the courts will save us..." approach assumes the courts will be respected. And it should be pretty obvious where we are with that right now.

Stripes10 minutes ago

As it relates to the FCC, the FCC only has jurisdiction over the 8 local ABC stations Disney owns and they would need to approve the acquisition or sale of any broadcast station.

mmascari16 minutes ago

Doesn't have to be a broadcast station. Anything Disney wants to buy that is subject to any approval by any government agency.

Dranth21 minutes ago

This. In the courts, the vast majority of these activities have been blocked or outright reversed when lawsuits have been filed, but that doesn't remove the target so a lot will just cave. Companies in particular don't want to deal with years of EOs and entire government agencies targeting them. Great times. Hope everyone who thinks this kind of activity is a good idea stays consistent when the shoe is on the other foot down the line.

Stripes31 minutes ago

I don’t think Disney is in the market to buy or sell any broadcast stations.

mmascari35 minutes ago

Maybe. There's only something for a judge to block if Disney fights it. If it happens, Disney may just give up and cave if they're worried about some other activity, such as a M&A purchase being blocked.

Stripes45 minutes ago

Many of those terminations have been blocked too. An executive order revoking the FCC license for any station would be one of the clearest examples of an unconstitutional action.

flynnibus54 minutes ago

That's what all the federal employees thought too...

Stripes56 minutes ago

An executive order stating otherwise would be quickly blocked by a judge. There is little, if any, risk to the company here. Carr is just trying to look like he’s doing something without actually doing anything.