Gov. Ron DeSantis

State legislators were called back into session this month after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a redistricting bill and drew new legislative maps, while stripping the Walt Disney Company of its special tax district.

Sen. Ray Rodrigues, District 27, who chaired the redistricting committee which drew up the original maps, spoke this past week about the recent legislative actions. Rodrigues represents most of Lee County in the Florida Senate.

The new maps approved by DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature keep intact a new State House district for Lee County, between San Carlos Park and Lehigh Acres. The new seat, which will be the subject of primaries in August, will create a fifth state House district for Lee County. Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs and Sanibel is represented in the House by Bonita Springs Republican Adam Botana, District 76. The rest of Lee County is represented by Republican representatives Mike Giallombardo, District 77, Jenna Parsons, District 78, and Spencer Roach, District 79.

Rodrigues said the major changes in the redistricting plan by DeSantis will be to remove Congressional District 5 (which covers a region from Jacksonville to Tallahassee) from a majority-minority district, and to split it between District 4 in a way that is “race-neutral.” Congressional District 10 (in the Orlando region) was also changed from being a minority-majority district due to data which state House Republicans cited as showing it didn’t vote as a minority-majority district in primaries.

“The Senate disagreed,” Rodrigues said. Ultimately, though, the Senate went along with the changes which make it less than a minority-majority district due to the backing of the changes by DeSantis.

Rodrigues said there was disagreement over whether Congressional District 10 should be protected as a minority-district based on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“There is clearly a conflict in the state constitution (regarding) the non-discrimination clause,” Rodrigues said. Rodrigues said the redistricting process is supposed to prevent racial discrimination and follow a 2010 state referendum, which initiated a constitutional amendment to protect against gerrymandering.

“There is going to be litigation” over the redistricting maps, Rodrigues said.

The changes have been opposed by Democrats in the state legislature.

Former governor Charlie Crist, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination to challenge DeSantis for the governor’s seat this November, denounced the new district maps.

“Gov. DeSantis is once again attacking Floridian’s freedoms, and this time, it’s an attack against one of our most sacred rights: the right to free and fair elections,” Crist said. “Gov. DeSantis’s proposed map is a blatant attack to silence the Black vote and Black voice across Florida — and we won’t stand for it. As governor, I will uphold the Voting Rights Act, defend the long, hard work of my friend and former colleague John Lewis, and fight so every Floridian has a voice,” he stated. “A decade ago, Floridians voted overwhelmingly for Fair Districts because they know that competitive districts mean better representation. DeSantis’s move is unlawful and violates the Florida Constitution,” Crist said.

Disney

Rodrigues said state legislators were called back into session this month to pass a law which eliminated all special tax districts in the state created before 1968. The changes affect only a handful of districts, but most notably a tax district controlled by the Walt Disney Company.

Rodrigues said DeSantis and Republican legislators acted to eliminate the tax district from Disney due to its statements regarding the Parental Rights in Education Bill, which prohibits discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through grade 3.

“Disney made a tactical mistake by publicly declaring that they were going to work to repeal (the Parental Rights in Education Law),” Rodrigues said.

“That opened the door of what we can do to repeal (their tax district),” he said. “We shouldn’t be teaching gender plurality or transgender in kindergarten through third grade.”

As a consequence of the removal of Disney’s special tax district, which allows them autonomy over a number of government functions with the ability to bond at the government rate, they would instead fall under the authority of Orange County and Osceola County. The debt the Reedy Creek Improvements District owes on bonds taken for construction would then fall to taxpayers in those counties unless a new district was created in its place. The debt on the bonds has been estimated at $1 billion, which Reedy Creek Improvement District officials have stated in filings would be transferred to the local general purpose government as a result of the state’s actions. In 2021, Disney reporting paying $780 million in state and local taxes.

Rodrigues said he believed that when the special district was created in 1967 for Disney, it was under a plan for Epcot to become a city, which didn’t happen.

“Why should Disney have tax advantages that others don’t?”

A message left with the Walt Disney Company was not returned.

“Disney should not run its own government,” DeSantis said at a recent press conference.

“Under no circumstances, will Disney not pay its fair share of taxes,” he said. “Under no circumstances will Disney not pay its debts. We will make sure of that.”

At a television appearance on Fox News, DeSantis said he objected to Disney’s criticism of the Parental Rights in Education Law. “They pledged themselves to mobilize their considerable corporate resources out of the coffers of this Burbank, California-based corporation to overturn the rights of parents in the state of Florida — to effectively commandeer our democratic process,” DeSantis said.

Crist said he opposed the actions taken by DeSantis and the legislature regarding Disney.

“Gov. DeSantis wants to run for president, and he’s whipping up his base by attacking Disney. He doesn’t care that Disney brings thousands of tourists to Florida, or that his bill would cost taxpayers millions,” Crist said.

Elections

DeSantis signed a new election law this week which will create a new state enforcement agency with the power to investigate election fraud. The law also makes changes to election laws, by creating stations for drop-off ballots, replacing ballot boxes and also requiring voters to request mail-in ballots yearly while providing more information. The law also requires county election supervisors to conduct annual cleansing of voter rolls for voters deemed to be no longer living in their district or eligible to vote. The new state law was criticized by a federal judge who ruled a 2021 election law passed by the state legislature and signed by DeSantis, to be unconstitutional.

DeSantis said he believes the ruling will be overturned.

The election law was supported by Rodrigues and most Republicans in the state legislature, while opposed by Democrats.

In a press conference announcing the new state election enforcement agency this week, DeSantis spoke about removing an election official in Palm Beach County and accepting the resignation of an election supervisor in Broward County.

DeSantis said he wanted to make the penalties more severe, increasing penalties for “ballot harvesting” by third-party groups who collect ballots from those unable to go to the polls or a post office, that aren’t submitted within 14 days to be a third-degree felony. The bill also increases fines on voter registration groups found to have violated election laws.

“We are creating for the first time ever in state government an office of election crimes and security to be able to prosecute voter fraud,” DeSantis said. “What you can’t do is collect a bunch of ballots and dump them somewhere.

“We got rid of these drop-boxes,” DeSantis said. “To just have these things sitting around is not good.”