The drama continues between Disney World and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Here’s a quick recap in case you missed this story: When Gov. DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Bill — commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — into law, The Walt Disney Company denounced the legislation. Seemingly in retaliation to Disney’s comments, Gov. DeSantis introduced new legislation to repeal the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is a governing body that essentially allows Disney World to function as its own government.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ©Deadline
This bill was signed into law, and it states that the district will be dissolved in June 2023. Since the bill passed, some Florida residents have filed lawsuits against Gov. DeSantis in protest. Now, we have an update about the current status of those lawsuits.
This story has a lot of developments to follow, so we don’t blame you if you think it sounds a little bit confusing. If you want a full background of the situation, you can find that here.
Click here to see everything we know about the Reedy Creek dissolution.
But the basics that you need to know are that Gov. DeSantis is going to dissolve Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District in June 2023, and some Florida residents are concerned about the impact and implications that the dissolution could have.
Reedy Creek Emergency Vehicles©Wesh
Taxpayers from counties that surround Disney World filed a complaint in federal court against Gov. DeSantis about the issue, stating that the law to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District was made in haste. Their main concerns were that the change could leave counties with a massive amount of debt (up to $1 billion) and that it violated Disney’s First Amendment rights as it seemed to be retaliatory against Disney’s statement against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
©Fox10 News | Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
At the time, the federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the federal court doesn’t have jurisdiction over issues affecting the state. The judge also claimed that the plaintiffs “do not plausibly allege they have suffered any concrete injury as a result of the alleged violation of Disney’s First Amendment rights.”
This lawsuit was refiled in May, however, and now Gov. DeSantis and other politicians have responded. The Orlando Business Journal reported that Gov. DeSantis and 2 other state departments who were named in the lawsuit have filed for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
Reedy Creek Trash Cans
On August 19th, 2022, they filed for the dismissal, stating that “plaintiffs have no legal right to prohibit the State of Florida from dissolving governmental entities created by state law.” The appeal to dismiss the case also states that the “plaintiffs’ premature, scattershot complaint attempts to do just that; it challenges the legality of SB 4-C, a facially neutral general law that uniformly dissolves certain pre-1968 independent special districts effective June 1, 2023, based solely on speculative injuries that are completely disconnected from any cause of action.”
Reedy Creek Sign in Disney World
In this request, Gov. DeSantis and the others claim the complaint is “replete with defects” and should either be dismissed completely or “transferred to Tallahassee’s Leon County.” They claim that “no tax increase related to SB 4-C has been proposed or imposed on plaintiffs.” Thus far, Gov. DeSantis has not revealed the government’s plan to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District or take care of the $1 billion in debt that comes with that district.
It seems that a successor district could follow the dissolution of Reedy Creek, but no official plan has been revealed.
Disney World Entrance
We’ll continue to watch the status of this lawsuit, and we’ll be sure to update you when there’s any news about whether it has been dismissed or will continue. Keep following DFB for all the latest news.
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As Florida residents our family supports our Governor. The state has repeatedly said local communities will not incur and tax hikes. State limits property tax increases so the lawsuit is frivolous at best
Not sure why people keep calling it the “don’t say gay bill”. As there is nothing in the bill that even remotely states that!!! Total propaganda……
C.Childs…it absolutely insinuates that. Take your blinders off. DeSantis is nothing but a toddler having a tantrum. Hope the door doesn’t get him in the end come November.
DeSantis has great support in Florida. Disney really stepped in it with this one. You are a Family Theme Park Disney . . . not a political organization!
Have Universal Orlando and other parks enjoyed the same privilege as Disney as well as it’s surrounding areas? I think not, so lets level the playing field.
The Parental Rights in Education Bill is not commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Only people that are against it or have not bothered to read it call it that. As far as The state’s claim that local communities will not incur tax hikes is false. Local tax, as well as the state, will go up.
Go Gov. Ron!
Worst FLA Gov in history using his office to buddy the largest employer in the State.
Worst FLA Gov in history using his office to bully the largest employer in the State.
No matter the issue,Disney just needs a little smack down now and then …. to keep them in their place ace. Next they’ll want to become their own country!
Hey!! 😉
Governor DeSantis’s claim that the lawsuits are nothing but specious claims seem to forget the fact that not only have the citizens of the affected counties banded together – they have also retained competent legal representation to aid in the filing of their complaints. Does this sound like a specious claim to you?
I think Disney World should just leave Florida and see if the governor likes all that tax money and having 75,000 jobs lost.
So the governor didn’t give any reasons for taking this measure? At least none are mentioned other than retaliation. From reading this article am I correct in assuming the governor is just mean? Let me know.
Unfortunate all the time being required on this topic when it is the result of an immature bully retaliating like a teenager. Evidence of this is the lightning speed in which the dissolution vote occurred. Then everyone else was left to figure out how to solve the mess he created.
There is only one governor in Florida. Disney has no right to have their own governor
Disney did not just denounce the Parental Rights Bill, they promised to do all in their power to overturn it, justifying Gov. Desantis’ further action in repealing the Reedy Creek deal.
To C. Child’s and MG, the Governor is not a dictator. Disney has freedom of speech. If you allow the Governor to continue in this way, a future vendetta decision made by him may affect NEGATIVELY YOU PERSONALLY OR A FAMILY MEMBER .
Chapek should stay out of political commenting. He needs to work on the Magic the Park ( DW ) seems to be losing.
As a Florida resident I’m ready for a new Governor. He is a bully and that’s bad for us all.
I agree with C. Childs above. I love what our governor is doing with our state.
Think before you act. Sometimes you have to pay for what you say. Poke the bull you get the horns.
Desantis needs to be removed from office. He is a blight on the great state of Florida.
Love our Governor! Best in the country!
I’m looking forward to DeathSantis being defeated in the upcoming election. Afterwards, I’ll be looking forward to watching what Disney does in order to fix the mess that ol’ Ron will have left behind.
Ummm okay FL resident commenting above that seems way too trustworthy for the wrong reasons… DeSantis says taxpayers won’t occur tax hikes. But where does the debt incurred go? Just walk me through the logistics but I think its more politician BS. You’d think anti “big government” people would love a capitalst company paying for its own public services. If WDW doesn’t pay tax payers do… period. The only way Florida taxpayers would be off the hook would be to violate every law about said district and said debt incurred and to ignore the entire concept that SOMEONE has to pay for fire, water and other services in the WDW area then be okayvwith tourists dying because FL refuses to pay for ambulance, fire and other life saving services. As taxpayers you would have thought the company making the profits paying for its customers public services is a really great deal. But if said district is taken over by the state government then the state government and thus taxpayers have the bill period. Unless the idea is to say screw everyone at WDW who needs an ambulence, fire truck or any emergency or utility services…. which would also be illegal and would cause a huge part of the central FL economy to leave. I’m not trying to be political just that there is no reasonable, logistical and legal end game to this that doesn’t result in FL taxpayers picking up the debt or at the very least having to foot the bill for services provided to a for profit company that said company used to pay for. But I don’t live in FL just another state even more tourist focused almost 5,000 miles away.
I knew I should’ve have visited the comments section… ugh.
where does the debt magically go then?
we only get to find out after the election huh? that awfully convenient for you Governor. Surrounding counties residents will find out after the election that the governor stuck them for over a billion more in property taxes… he’s lying thru his teeth..nobody in republican led government in Florida thought this out even a little bit. To the people that just love the governor sticking the homeowners of the surrounding counties with a billion dollars more in property taxes.. I guess if it isn’t you… you could care less..huh?
What happened to the ‘corporations’ are people Citizens United crowd?
Why should Florida treat Disney World different than California treats Disneyland? Disneyland it’s part of Anaheim.
It would seem that the concept of “government” (a truly critical aspect of any society that is evolving or attempting to evolve into a better version of itself) has become a playground for the wealthy non-productive members of this society.
Why exactly are the rest of us subsumming ourselves to their will? Why are we serving them when they are not fulfilling their contractual promises to serve us?
Perhaps it is time to stop being so compliant. Perhaps it is time to deny them just as they deny us. We would have more time in each day to spend with our own families and friends and we would be able to enjoy more of the fruits of our own labors. Name one person in the top 10% of our nation that has done a single thing that benefits you.
Our governor needs to go!
It’s not bullying to address a company that has a nonchalant relationship and easy going with the government of Florida for years. Disney definitely needs to be taken down a notch. Universal hasn’t had the same advantages as Disney for decades. Maybe soon they will actually have to truly compete with Universal instead of taking in dough and giving lately less consumer oriented service. No company should be so in bed with a state government they get as many special breaks as Disney did
I said it once before Florida would still be a swamp if Walt Disney hadn’t. Brought the parks which brought the people
Leave it alone
I am a Florida resident and have learned that the governor often tells us to wait and see, that everything will be ok but never gives a plan as to how things will work. What I’ve learned in the seventeen years I’ve lived here in Florida that at election time one should never take politicians words and promises. I’m still waiting for some of the Governor’s first term election to happen. And this comes from a non-affiliated voter. Many of the laws that have been put into effect speedily (too speedily) and without the input of many Floridians are now facing genuine problems in execution because of lack of planning before the big push.
De trump won’t be governor forever. Prior to this political storm he nor any of the other representatives didn’t have an issue with RC . Don’t kid yourself someone is going to eat the loss.