Both the Florida Senate has voted to support the bill to allow the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board the power to cancel the Reedy Creek Restrictive Covenants agreement. It still has one more stop to make, and that is with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The vote came in at 27-13, with only one Republican senator, Joe Gruters, voting against it and the 12 Democrat senators also voting against it.
The bill labeled SB 1604 passed the Florida House yesterday with a vote of 75-34.
If approved, the newly appointed Board could overturn Disney’s agreement with the former Reedy Creek Improvement District. The deal itself has been questioned due to the emails showing that Walt Disney World’s chief counsel helped draft the agreement and then allowed his name to be replaced by the RCID’s attorney’s name. It is being called “self-dealing,” as Disney and the RCID were supposed to be two separate entities. Opponents argue that Disney made a contract with itself.
Approval of the bill is just another twist to the story of Disney vs. DeSantis. Now Disney is suing the Governor of Florida, the new Board, and other lawmakers. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board members are suing Disney on the state level.
This ride has more twists than one of the attractions at Disney.
Source: The Orlando Sentinel
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.