This is all a big joke.
CNN reports, "Disney’s self-governing special district, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, says that
Florida’s move to dissolve the district next year is not legal unless the state pays off Reedy Creek’s extensive debts.
"Reedy Creek is a
special purpose district created by state law in May 1967 that gives The Walt Disney Company extensive governmental control over the land in and around its central Florida theme parks. With that power, Reedy Creek currently has about $1 billion in outstanding bond debt, according to the
credit rating agency Fitch Ratings.
"In a statement issued to its bondholders last Thursday, Reedy Creek pointed out that the 1967 law also includes a pledge from Florida to its bondholders.
The law states that Florida “will not in any way impair the rights or remedies of the holders … until all such bonds together with interest thereon, and all costs and expenses in connection with any act or proceeding by or on behalf of such holders, are fully met and discharged.”
CNN added, "The new law is
just two pages long and
avoids any discussion of details about how to unwind a half-century of infrastructure deals, nor does it lay out the next steps in the complicated process. Lawmakers in neighboring Orange and Osceola counties have expressed concerns that they will be stuck with paying off Reedy Creek’s debts and will have to significantly raise property taxes on residents."
“If we had to take over the first response – the public safety components for Reedy Creek – with no new revenue,
that would be catastrophic for our budget here within Orange County,” Orange County Mayor
Jerry L. Demings told reporters on April 21. “It would put an undue burden on the rest of the taxpayers in Orange County to fill that gap.”
Which is exactly why DeSantis had the law written so that it doesn't take effect for thirteen months. The Republican governor is getting back at Disney because Disney execs objected to another law signed by DeSantis that put a muzzle onto K-3rd grade teachers when comes to sex education for four to seven year old children. Apparently, DeSantis thinks K-3rd grade educators teach sex to children.
There is no intention of having this law take effect as written ... or at all. DeSantis engaged in a childish political prank to take revenge on Disney's First Amendment rights. In the Republican mind, First Amendment rights are only for Republicans.
Republicans are expected to win control of Congress in November, and DeSantis is a likely Republican candidate for President if Trump doesn't run.
Forum Republicans are unlikely to respond to the issues of this report.
What a wacky world we live in.
