Last week, we learned that Florida State Senator Linda Stewart was attempting to pass a bill to repeal the Ron DeSantis takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. We knew this wouldn’t be easy, but the outcome was unsurprising.
Yahoo News reports that Florida state lawmakers refused to vote and walked out before the vote. Representative Doug Bankerson (R), Senator Jason Brodeur (R), and Senator Dennis Baxley (R) contributed to the bill’s failure to advance.
Due to their absence, the remaining politicians did not have enough members to push the bill forward. The outcome of the vote was 7-0 in support of repealing the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The trio of Republicans stated that their reason for leaving before the vote was that they were unsatisfied with how the delegation leaders were selected. The delegations chairperson, Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, had the following to say:
“It’s disrespectful to the staff who spent hours preparing for this meeting and to the more than 100 members of the public who signed up to speak. I can only assume this was less about delegation rules and more about Republican lawmakers not wanting to take a vote on restoring Reedy Creek.“
The lack of required delegates wasn’t entirely the fault of the three tardy Republicans. Out of the 14 people who should be present, four others were not present, including a Democrat.
This setback did not sway Linda Stewart, and she appears determined to eventually get the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District issue in front of a full board. “They can’t stop me,” said the senator following the bill’s initial failure.
If you’re interested in seeing what Stewart’s bill consisted of, check out this post on X (as relayed by MSN).
New: State Senator Linda Stewart is preparing to file a bill that looks to terminate the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and bring back the Reedy Creek Improvement District as it existed as of Feb. 26, 2023. pic.twitter.com/1zFx2MsEBE
— Landon McReynolds (@LandonProducer) November 28, 2023
What do you think of the bill’s failure? Should Reedy Creek be back under Disney’s control? Let us know below.
[Source: Yahoo News]
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